Opposites Attract
by Mojohd16
Summary: Seth Clearwater finally imprints...but the two couldn't be more different. Dakota Harris is a badass girl that doesn't believe in fairy-tale endings. Can Seth knock her walls down, gain her trust, and show her that there is such a thing as her Prince Charming, and that she can have a 'Happily Ever After?
1. In Which There is Moaning

Author's Note:

Okay, well, some of you have probably read my Claire/Quil imprint story, and I thank you for that, but I'm guessing not all of have(you should really check it out, though). So, I would just like to tell you that I update whenever I can, but the more reviews I get, the sooner I feel motivated to update. So REVIEW after every chapter! I respond whenever I can!

Here is my first Seth/OC imprint story, so let me know what you think. I was getting a little tired of just Claire and Quil's characters, so I think Seth and Dakota are a good contrast. Like the title of the story, Yin and Yang. So, without further ado, read on my precious Twilighters, read on.

...And remember to review.

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I really, really, really, rrrreeeallllyyy, wish I owned Twilight. But I don't.

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Ch.1 In Which There is Moaning

"Fuck, Dakota, get off your ass and work. I didn't hire you to sit around sleeping off your goddamn hangover", my annoying boss, Lenny screamed at me from the back room.

I let out an irritated huff, rolling my emerald eyes, but still obeyed his commands. As much as I hated this job, working at Piggy's Grocery, in Port Angeles, Washington, I needed the money. I needed it bad.

I lived with my pitiful excuse for a father, in his rundown trailer house, so that I could keep him off the streets, and me as well. My mother left us when I was four, and took all the money that we had in the bank with, leaving my pathetic father with nothing but a hungry four-year-old daughter that needed an explanation and new shoes.

He tried his best, I had to give him that. He tried to afford the bike for Christmas, and the candy for Easter. He tried to be comforting and soothing when Damion Carter poured milk on me in third grade. He tried to braid my hair in a perfect french braid for the fifth grade dance. He tried so hard to make me happy, but 'try' only went so far.

Of course, growing up without a mother around made a girl a little more... _tough_ than most girls. I received probably over a hundred high school detentions for punching classmates that pissed me off in some way. I through a lit firecracker at my ex-boyfriend's head when I caught him cheating on another girl. I spent a year in a juvenile detention center when I was fourteen, after beating up my Algebra teacher for grabbing my ass.

I was the girl who slept with college guys, and dressed like a regular hooker. I drank constantly, drove recklessly, and smoked almost anything you could set on fire. I was the epitome of trouble. I was the kid that parents had nightmares about.

I had a silver stud in my tongue that I pierced myself in a public bathroom of a Walmart. I had waist-length, natural, flame red hair that I never had time to brush, so it hung in tangles down my back. I wasn't afraid to dish out the middle finger, and didn't mind screaming my lungs out every once in awhile.

I was the girl that everyone was scared of. Even the quarterback of the football team cringed at my mere presence. And that was exactly the way I liked it.

The way I saw it, if I sent everyone running the other way, no one could hurt me. If I couldn't get close to them, trust them, then it wouldn't hurt when they left.

After my high school career ended, I didn't move on to college. We clearly couldn't afford it, and someone needed to help my dad with all the piles of unpaid bills. We were living off of food stamps at that point, and he needed help if we were gonna keep our house, and stay off the street. So, I got a job here, working a day shift at a damn grocery store. For a 19-year-old, living the dream.

Of course at night, I would have some fun. Go to night clubs, grind up on random college guys, get hammered, and sleep with whoever was the lucky winner that night. It didn't matter to me, I just needed to try to get the constant reminder of my pathetic existence off my mind. My life was a constant cycle of sucky, horrible experiences that never failed to drag me farther into the black hole I was already falling into.

I was snapped back into reality as the damn dinging of the bell at the front door rang through my sensitive ears. I needed to get drunk to release my mind from the constant pressure, but hangovers were truly a bitch. I cupped my hands over my ears, attempting to stop the agonizing sensation.

In walked old, Ms. Jenkins, a regular customer to the grocery store. She was less than five feet tall, had pasty white, wrinkly skin, and was permanently hunched over, a wooden cane sturdily supporting her slow waddling walk. She smiled sweetly at me, and being that she was mostly deaf, I smiled back, hoping it looked genuine, despite my throbbing headache.

I glanced up at the plastic clock that hung behind me on the white wall, crossing my fingers and toes that my shift was almost over. _Dammit_. I still had another hour. Another hour of the real world, and then I could go out, drink, and forget that reality existed. I could be happy, even if it was only for a night at a time.

"How are you doing today, dear?" Ms. Jenkins crackly voice cooed, her blue eyes crinkling in sincerity. Then it hit me. She was literally the only true friend I had ever had. She was the only one that ever cared a shit about me, and all I ever did for her is ring up her groceries every other day.

"F-Fine", I mumbled, pulling her groceries through the checkout, wincing as the machine beeped with every item.

"That's good, dear." She paid for the items, and carried the small plastic bag out the doors, heading out back into the fading sunlight. I grabbed the Advil container from my pocket, shoving some pills down my throat, not bothering to check the recommended amount.

"I'm closing up early, my sister's in town with her kids", Lenny said, walking out of the back room carrying his stained raincoat, making me smile as wide as I could at that moment. My saving grace. I was free.

I ripped off my ugly, red name tag, handed it to a exhausted-looking Lenny, and sprinted out the doors. The sun was almost down now, the purple's and indigo's becoming more prominent in the sky. The fall air was chilly, nipping at my bare legs and arms, goosebumps rising. I rubbed my hands on my arms, creating some heat with friction, but still utterly cold.

I finally located my duct-taped car, parked on the street-lighted road. I hopped inside, put the key in the ignition, and turned the heat up full blast, pulling onto the main drag at a speed way above the limit. I needed to let go, soon. I revved my sputtering engine, heading to the house where I knew a party would be in full swing.

I pulled sloppily over to the curb, my eyes already hazing over in anticipation. I sprinted into the blaring music, like I did every other night. Inside, drunks slurred random thoughts, alcohol flowing through their bloodstream, eliminating any worries. I plowed through the bustling bodies, making my way over to the bar.

I sat down on one of the black patent leather sofas, impatiently chewing a hangnail as I waited for the line to clear at the beverages table. When it was my turn, I practically threw myself at the plastic red cups.

I pulled out my usual drink, and I let out a long sigh of relief as I cupped the glass that contained my liberation. I took one glance at the light brown tinted fluid, and threw my head back, chugging the liquid as fast as I possibly could manage.

Soon enough, after multiple refills of the rejuvenating drink, I was happily lost in a stupor where I had no concerns in the world. I could be anyone I wanted to be, do anything I wanted to do. College students and dropouts danced around me, laughing and chatting about pointless things, none of which I gave a shit about.

I joined in the madness, grinding on a few decent looking guys, and even making out with one for a couple minutes. It was all for the rush, for the excitement, for the distraction.

Somewhere between puking in the bathroom toilet, and dancing on one of the card tables that were scattered about the living room, I heard some ugly college bitches whispering about some really hot guys that just showed up. Of course, this peaked my drunken self's interest, so I stumbled over to the front door to spy.

I definitely saw the men that those whores had been talking about. And boy, they were beyond hot. There was four of them, wearing nothing but cutoff shorts, exposing their toned copper chests. They must have been Native American, probably from one of the reservations around here.

Even though they were all pretty gorgeous, my dizzy eyes focused in on one that I would target tonight. This one was gonna be my lucky winner.

I staggered closer to them, shoving aside desperate sluts who already had made a ring around the prime meat. I was getting it tonight, and this guy was going to be the one to give me the release I needed. By the size of him, it would hurt, too. Pain would be another good distraction.

I made one more shaky lurch forward, until I could slap my hand on his broad shoulder for some standing support. My head was literally spinning, trying to form coherent thoughts.

I looked up at him after regaining some control over my mind.

He met my eyes with a gaze that I couldn't quite make out with the blurriness of my sight. For a second, it looked like shock. Then, it looked like happiness. Then, it looked like admiration. Lastly, it looked like anxiousness.

I hunched over, letting a few drops of watery puke slip from my mouth, before returning my eyes back to this sexy guy's face. He had a worried expression on now, his deep brown eyes pooling with concern.

The next thing I knew, he had swept me up in his really warm arms and was carrying me down the dark hallway to one of the bedrooms. _So, he wanted to get laid too, well, this was easier than I'd thought it'd be._

He kicked a door open, rushing over to lay me down gently on the bed. I tried to give him my most seductive look, but a rush of bile ran up my throat at that exact second, so I'm sure it looked more like a less than appealing expression. I flipped my head over the side of the bed, letting the foul bile slide out of my mouth. I heard him mumble something, but I couldn't make it out over the pounding music.

Once I was finished barfing onto the carpet, I went back to trying to look sexy and seductive. He didn't react to anything, not the teasing grins or lip pursing, instead just standing there like a complete dope. Staring at me with this sullen expression. What the fuck?

In a desperate attempt, I clambered unto my hands and knees, crawling towards the end of the bed, trying to look like a tiger ready to pounce on her prey. I think I once heard something about guys thinking that was sexy. I yanked on his motionless body, pulling him towards me, and hopefully onto the bed. He didn't budge an inch though, being as huge as he was.

So, he was gonna play the good boy virgin card, well, I had a few tricks up my sleeve, too. I smiled smugly as I began to slide the sleeves of my tight-fitting tank top down my skinny arms. His body froze, and I knew I had sparked something inside of him.

I continued pulling the sleeves down, until my black, lacy bra was entirely exposed. I could see the tension in his muscles. He wanted to have me. He wanted to so badly. I was so close to getting the release I needed.

So, I took the next step and began to slide my tight jean shorts down my freckled, narrow, thighs. His eyes bugged out, once he realized what I was doing. I smiled wider, as they rounded my ankles and fell to the floor on the side of the bed.

I had worn a tight, red thong today, seemingly a good choice by the lust swimming around in his chocolate eyes.

"Fuck me", I whispered bluntly, batting my eyelashes temptingly. He grimaced, but took a step closer. Okay, progress. I could handle that.

"_Please_. Fuck me hard", I rasped, shivering in need. In a unmeasurable moment, he was laying next to me on the bed, his deep eyes filled with lust. I won.

I latched my arms around his neck, pushing my lips violently onto his, jumping at the abnormal warmth of them. His long, perfectly chiseled arms wrapped around my back, and he responded to the kiss immediately. I forced my tongue through his thick lips, inching into his hot mouth, tasting his pink tongue. He tasted so good. Like candy.

I ran my hands through his short, black, cropped hair, intensifying the kiss. I felt his nerves pulsate through the kiss, so I placed his hands on the sides of my hips, pulling him on top of me, attempting to boost his confidence. He seemed to understand my gesture, and began to explore the inside of my mouth with his luscious tongue.

I had to push away from the kiss for a second, to breathe. He seemed to look a little disappointed that I left. I let out a few panting breaths, before reconnecting our lips and moving my hands to the button on his shorts.

He seemed a little resistant to my actions at first, cringing as my skin brushed his lower stomach, but I quickly pulled them down, before he had a chance to protest my efforts. I couldn't help but admire his plaid boxers that I had revealed. I had the urge to rip them off with my teeth, but with him being so naive, decided against it.

It didn't seem like he had done this many times, or maybe he never ever had, so I took the liberty of stripping myself. I began with my bra, reaching around my back to unlatch the hook. He caught on, and backed away so that I could throw it onto the ground. His eyes went wide as he looked me over, and as if on cue, my pink nipples stood at attention, begging to be touched.

I let out a moan as his large, warm, hands cupped around the swells on my chest, his large thumbs brushing over my tips softly, hardening them. I opened my eyes to see his genuine smile, he was proud to know what he could do to me. I wasted no time in reaching down to pull off my now soggy panties, ready to be taken off the planet and into an alternate world.

This time, when I flung the removed clothing off the bed, he didn't look. I wasn't sure if he was too shy to, or if he was just nervous. I yanked his head, using his hair as my grip, and forced his eyes down to my lower half. "Open them", I commanded, letting a hint of sultriness flood through my voice.

He obeyed, and I enjoyed the surprised smile that shot across his reddened face. He brought his curious eyes back up to me, and stuck his thumb on the spot where all my pressure was built up, provoking a long whinny from my throat. He grinned at my reaction, putting his thumb there again and again, each time releasing a whine from my lips. _God, I need him in me now, or I am gonna explode._

"Just f-fuck me", I shouted, groaning as he pushed his thumb down firmly on that spot. He smirked.

I jerked down his boxers, staring widely at his 'little friend'. He was fucking HUGE. H-U-G-E.

After regaining my composure, I waited for him to come down into me. I closed my eyes. I waited. Nothing.

I opened them again, to a flustered face, peering down at me with bashfulness. God, this kid was certainly built for sex, and yet, he couldn't even put himself inside me without some help?

Instead of screaming at him, like I kind of wanted to, I just lifted my hips off the comforter, and positioned my opening right up against his member. I could feel his hotness brushing up against me, and I felt a few drops my wetness slide down my inner thigh. I needed to get in him fast.

With one abrupt jab, I took him in. All of him. I winced at the pain, his largeness expanding my opening, stretching it bigger than it ever had been before. I couldn't refrain from letting out a few groans and moans, too. His lower baritone grunts were sexy, lifting me higher.

I felt myself start to climb as he began to pull himself in and out of me, creating the perfect rhythm. He was catching on now, naturally going with his male instincts.

My breath was heavy now, only muted when his lips came crashing down onto mine every so often, his taste bringing me even higher.

When I finally reached the peak, I let out a guttural whine, and went limp against his muscular body as I fell. Seconds later I felt his burning hot release in me, and he wilted too, rolling over in satisfaction next to me.

I felt my eyelids start to close, my drunk mind slipping into sleep. My mind drifting into the only happiness my life held. Drunkeness.

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Soooo, what'd you think? Good? Bad? Suggestions? Just hit that little blue button down there! It would make me happy...


	2. In Which There is an Infraction

Author's Note:

Here I am with a new chapter, and I am excited for you all to read it! This story has become my new favorite obsession, which means many chapters to come... Thanks for reading, and I hope you enjoy. Remember to **review, **and I will update faster if I get a lot of reviews. I will respond to every review that I can. As always, Happy Reading!

**REVIEW, REVIEW, REVIEW!**

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Stephanie Meyer owns all Twilight. I wonder how she manages all of it? Maybe she needs a little help. I just happen to have some extra time on my hands...

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Ch. 2 In Which There is a Infraction

My crashing headache, combined with the yellow streaming sunlight bursting through the window, combined with the thunderous snore of the man I had slept with last night woke me up, forcing me back into my daily hell. Reality.

I fumbled with the covers as I snuck out of the bed I was sharing with the stranger from the previous night. I noticed a sharp sting coming from my vagina as I peeled the tangled covers off of me. Well, he had been huge if I was remembering correctly...

Like usual, I wasn't planning on staying around to meet the guy. I never planned to get close to them. They were just the extra distraction, and once they served their purpose, I never saw them again.

I stole a glance at the lucky guy as I pulled last night's dirty clothing back on. He was a very fit, Native man, with high sculpted cheekbones, russet skin, and massive dimples. I had to admit, this one was one of my better looking victims.

He was curled up in the blankets, smiling with a child-like grin from his whatever he was dreaming about. He really resembled like a giant teddy bear, and I had to admit, there was a part of me that had the urge to run up and hug him. Of course, I shot that thought down fast because that would wake him up. Which would lead to a conversation. Which would break my golden, number one rule. No friendship. I fly solo. Lone-wolf. Me, myself, and I.

Following my typical routine, I tiptoed out of the bedroom, smoothing out my ratted, red locks. I peeked into the living room of the random house where the party had been last night, checking for any loose, awake stragglers.

Just a few unconscious bodies with pipes in their hands were strewn across the floor, but other than that, the coast was clear.

I ran silently out of the house, finding my cheap ass car across the street, a yellow slip tucked neatly into the windshield wipers. I ripped it off, before heading into the driver's seat. Great. Just what I needed. Another damn parking ticket. Where in the hell was I gonna get three hundred dollars to pay for this? Certainly not in _my_ piggy bank...

I shoved the slip into my pocket, turning the key into the ignition, and pulled out onto the main drag that led to my trailer park. I checked my appearance in my rear view mirror.

I looked like shit. Let me rephrase that, I looked like Elmo-with-the-flu-and-a-bad-haircut-shit. Yeah, not pretty.

My hair was a rat's nest waiting to happen, the frizzed waves shooting out in a million different directions, none of which happened to be the same one. Dried black streaks of mascara ran down my freckled cheeks. My light peach lipstick was slightly smeared on my face, covering up some of my boyish freckles with pink blotches. Oh yeah, this was definitely trailer-trash at it's finest.

I sighed as I pulled into the gravel driveway that led up to the tiny gray box that was my home, and had been for the last nineteen years of my wretched life. A single plastic flamingo staked in the overgrown yard. One of the square windows was boarded up with loose plywood after a neighbor boy broke it with a baseball four years ago. An bright white eviction notice stamped onto the front screen door, a symbol that never ceased to remind me why I hated the government so god damn much.

I threw open my car door, and stomped up onto the rotted wooden porch. I tore the eviction notice off the door, ripping it into shreds and throwing them over the railing and into the dew covered, dandelion-filled grass. I slammed open the screen door, stalking into the linoleum-tiled kitchen with rage running rampant through my veins.

My father's lawnmower-like snoring could be heard clear as day from the living room, along with the television's mindless morning infomercial chatter. He must have fallen asleep waiting up for me again.

I searched the cheap wooden cupboards for some food that wasn't out of date or rotted, but came up empty handed. Instead, I threw some coffee beans into the roaster, inhaling the familiar scent as I headed towards my father's sleeping body.

He was a stout man, only standing about 5'8, with a beer belly that could have challenged Santa Clause at his roundest. His dark brown hair had streaks of gray at the roots, hinting at his stressful life, even though he was only in his late 30s. My parents had got pregnant with me in high school, and my mother left when us when my father was only 22. Yeah, not exactly the prime age to be a full-time caretaker of a four year old girl.

But, with all that had gone on in my life, including all the fall outs and arguments that had risen between my father and I, he had always been my one and only role model. Even though I hated his constant prying into my life, he never gave up on me. There were so many times that I could look back on and not see how he didn't just throw in the towel and kick my ass out. But he never had.

I nudged his shoulder, and he startled awake, his purple bagged eyes bulging in sudden alertness.

"Hey, pops." He smiled, rubbing his hairy hands over his blue eyes, waking himself up. I sat down on the armrest of the chair, leaning into his side, and stealing some of his warmth.

"Hey, baby. I thought you were coming home last night?" He asked, his sapphire eyes showing sorrow and concern.

"I needed to get out. Get away for awhile", I replied plainly, avoiding his troubled gaze. It made me uncomfortable.

He knew exactly what I was doing when I was out at all hours of the night, but we just both never thought it necessary to say it out loud. Besides, his forbidding would never stop me. He learned that lesson during my sophomore year after I got caught smoking a joint on the side of the school. He grounded me for a month, but every night I snuck out my window, returning before morning.

I had thought I was so sly and sneaky, because he never mentioned it, until one day he boarded up my window. I stopped coming home after that, and couch-surfed for a few weeks. Finally, he got a hold of me at one of my friend's houses and begged me to come home. I did, and he never punished me for anything again.

I knew it all bugged the hell out of him though, seeing me come home at night drunk, high, and especially when I didn't come home at all. But, being the selfish bitch that I was, and never failed to be, I didn't ever find it in me to change my ways. I lived for the release, and drugs, alcohol, and sex seemed to be the only way to get it.

"Just be careful, baby, okay?" He asked, his ocean eyes washing with hope.

"Always am." _Please end the conversation now..._

"I'm really sorry I couldn't be there for you. You know? I feel like such a failure of a parent", he admitted ashamedly, staring absently at the television screen.

"Are we done?" I asked, feeling extremely uncomfortable with the change of topic of the conversation. I shifted his hand off my shoulder and headed back into the kitchen.

I could feel his distressed eyes on me as I poured a cup of coffee, inhaling with deep breaths. I accidentally over filled one, spilling the boiling liquid onto my skin. "_Shit_", I cursed quietly, blowing on the raw pink burn mark. I could see his mouth open to say something, but he closed it again, thankfully.

I handed him his mug of the brown, steaming stimulant, wordlessly, and chugged a little of my own. Whoever said coffee doesn't cure hangovers was wrong. The burning sensation of it sliding down your throat distracted you momentarily from the throbbing head pounding. At least, in my opinion.

"I have to head out, dad. My shift starts in an hour", I said softly, setting my cup down on the cupboard and heading to my bedroom down the hallway. Once inside the two by four foot, wood paneled, room, I found a fresh set of clothes to put on.

A red raglan tee from Walmart, dark blue skinny jeans that I had found in a Goodwill, and a rubber pair of black flip flops. I ran my paddle brush through my hair a few times, sprayed some strawberry breeze detangler in it, and pulled my frazzled, red waves into a loose ponytail at the back of my head.

I trudged back out of the house, giving a brief "Bye", to which my father responded to with a "Love you". He was changing into his work clothes as I was leaving. He was a factory worker down at the meat packing plant. He stuffed dead animals into tiny little paper packets for eight bucks and hour. Don't get me wrong, I wasn't a vegetarian or anything prissy like that, but the thought of raw meat in front of your face from nine to five everyday, well, _yuck_.

I drove back to Piggy's Grocery, dumping the rest of the Advil container down my throat before getting out. I walked into the store, shivering from the air conditioning, and Lenny handed me my ugly name tag, ordering me to the man the cash register for the day. I don't know why he reassigned it to me every day, it's all I ever had done while working here for the past five months.

The day was excruciatingly long, tiring, and boring as hell, so I all but jumped for joy when the sun went down and I was released from the prison cell I liked to call work. I used to think high school was bad, but at least there you had girly bitch fights to watch, horny athletes to punch, and stuck-up teachers to piss off. Here, I had no entertainment, other than reading through fucking gossip magazines that only dumb airhead barbie dolls liked.

I skipped, no hopped, because Dakota Savannah Harris does not skip, out into the drizzling, cold rain, heading for my bashed up car that I was partly ashamed to own.

Let's just say, I had always been a car person, and something along the lines of a shiny red corvette was more to my liking. Instead, I was stuck with this shitty, 'it-just-needs-a-little-work' clunker. Two hundred dollars of sheer shit on wheels is what I liked to call it. And staring at it right then, under the half-burnt out streetlight, it looked like life was mocking me by spot-lighting my embarrassment.

Suddenly, I felt a giant, warm pair of hands cover my mouth, preventing my scream from reaching any decibel audible to humans. I felt my squirming body being carried towards the dark alley off the corner of the street. I kicked, I punched, I tried my best to get this man's dirty hands off of me. But, being 5'2, 103 pounds of pure skin and bone, and not exactly having the smartest brain on the planet, I wasn't very effective in getting this guy's hands removed.

Finally, we reached the destination, wherever it was, and he turned me around to face him. I could feel his hot breath on my face, but I couldn't distinguish any features because of the lack of light. _Yep, I'm dead. _

I closed my eyes, accepting my fate. I cringed, waiting helplessly for him to kill me.

"I'm not going to hurt you. I'll take my hand off your mouth if you don't scream. I just need to talk to you", a low voice whispered, soft and relaxed. I shivered, partly due to the dropping temperatures, but mostly due to the creepy stranger holding me against my will in the dark alley.

I nodded, fully intending to scream as soon as he lifted a finger off my face. He must have trusted me, because he removed his hands, and I let a long high-pitched cry whip through the night air. Within a second, his hands were back on my face, preventing the rest of the scream from sounding. Damn.

"Okay, so it looks like I'm gonna have to do all the talking here, then", he muttered, almost as if he was talking to himself instead. I waited while he thought, strategizing plans to escape in my head. To be honest, I didn't have anything. I'd never paid attention to any of my classes in school. Including the Self Defense unit in P.E. I was screwed.

He took a deep breath.

"Okay, well here goes nothing. I don't know if you can tell or not, but I'm the guy from last night. We, you know..._hooked_ up. And I woke up this morning and you were gone and I...well, I just wanted to meet you. I like you a lot, and I just...do you wanna maybe go out? Like on a date? Crap. That's too forward. Um, I'm sorry. I just really, really like you", he rambled on and on, and I felt my jaw dropping lower and lower with each new word that shot out of his mouth.

_What the fuck was he talking about?_ We had a one night stand. The key words being _'one night'_. Hell, we didn't even know each others names. And now he jumps me on the street randomly, expecting a full-fledged date. _No fucking way._

I couldn't really say anything, what with his hand covering my only way to speak, so I reached up to yank his hand away my mouth so I could respond. He noticed this and let go, keeping his hand a few inches away just in case I decided to scream again. Honestly, I was still considering it.

"What are you talking about? It was a one night stand, I don't even know your name", I whispered harshly, hopefully avoiding his eyes, wherever they were. I felt his index finger lift my chin up, to what I assumed was his face.

"Seth Clearwater. And yours?" _Seth_. I had no clue why, but I really liked that name. _Wait, shit, why was I feeling so tingly and weird? Fucking get yourself together, Dakota. _

"Dakota Harris", I replied robotically, trying to refocus my thoughts onto why I should hate this man. It wasn't working very well, as I was remembering they few bits I could from our, well hell, _sex_ last night.

"Dakota", he said in a melodic tone, as if it was the most beautiful name he'd ever heard. _God, when did I become such a sap?Was this just the way I was when I was sober? I need to seriously find some alcohol soon..._

"Can you like, let me go now?" I asked, attempting to sound rude and miffed with him. I guess it sounded pretty legit, because he loosened his grip and I slid to the concrete floor, his hands stayed resting on my hips, but so lightly that I could forget they were even there.

"Uh, sorry." _Yeah, you better be pal. I do not like being man-handled._

I straightened out my shirt that had ridden up a little on my backside, and looked around, trying to find my bearings. Everything was so dark, I just couldn't see anything.

"So, what do you want from me?" I asked bitterly, shooting a mean glare towards the direction I thought his face was in, ready to bolt any second now.

"I...I just want to get to know you", he whispered, his voice both scared and hopeful.

"Well, I'm not particularly fond of that idea, but thanks for the offer. See you, um like, _never_ again", I snapped, shoving myself out of his arms and walking towards the lights at the end of the alleyway.

I was halfway to my car before I felt the same damn hot hand snap me back around using my wrist.

I revolved around, prepared to dish out a whole lot of ugly, but was stopped in my tracks to see the pain on his face. It swelled in his eyes, his black brows pulling together in angst, and the way his thick lips were pulled into a childish pout almost made me want tear up. _You can't develop feelings, Dakota. This isn't you. You sleep with them, then you're over it. There's no 'let's be friends'. We're not on fucking Barney here. Grow up._

"Please, just give me a chance. Dakota" he whispered innocently, his voice cracking, splintering my heartstrings. _Just say no. It's simple. Two letters. N-O._

"Okay", I heard my voice mumble, contrary to my brain's demands. _I know you just didn't say okay. Okay? Fucking okay? Are you fucking insane?_

A sigh of relief flew out of his mouth, bringing my heart back to it's normal condition. I breathed deeply when I realized what I had just done. I had completely disregarded my number one rule. Grab and go. Except now, I had grabbed, but I wasn't going.

I felt his still incredibly warm hand intertwine with my much smaller one, weaving our fingers together securely, as if they weren't held together tightly enough, I might just slip in between them. He pulled me off the sidewalk and into the dimly lit street, and I noticed how truly handsome he was. I mean, I obviously had seen him before, but being sober, he still looked a hot as I remembered. Maybe even hotter...

A huge dopey smile was plastered across his tan face as he led me to a rusty green pickup truck, helping me into the passenger side, and running around to the driver's seat. He wrapped one of his burning hot arms around my shoulder, and turned the key.

I finally came out of my lovesick trance and realized that I had no clue where we were going, or what we were doing. _This is a complete stranger._

"Where...?" I whispered, my lips trembling at the endless possibilities. I didn't really know this guy. What if he was like, kidnapping me or something. _Oh, god. What the fuck did I just do..._

"La Push. My house. You're gonna meet my family", he beamed happily, looking down at me with a overwhelming grin of admiration. I couldn't help but reflect it, despite my mind telling me different. _Why was I feeling like this?All mushy, gushy, and...happy? No, I couldn't be happy. It wasn't possible._

I knew remotely where La Push was, kind of by Forks. It was an Indian reservation if I remembered right. I think I had gone to a few parties down there in high school. If I remembered right, it was a little over an hour away.

We drove in a comfortable silence, but every few minutes or so, I felt his brown eyes boring into me, giving me the same intense look each time, causing me to blush like a little school girl, every single time. I could see him grin out of the corner of his eye, too, whenever my face reddened. Ugh, what was I becoming? A giddy fifteen year old with out-of-control hormones. _Couldn't living through that phase once in my life be enough?_

Seth's warm arm never left my shoulder the entire way, and as we pulled into the concrete drive that I could only assume was his, he pulled the key out and before I could open my own door, had opened it for me, offering his large callused hand for help. Chivalry. _Hmm._

I huffed a dramatic annoyed breath, jumping out onto the cement without his hand in mine. I wanted to take it so badly, but I also didn't want to seem so girly and fragile. I was certainly not made of glass, and he needed to know that I could hold my own.

I wanted to maintain my bad ass reputation, in my feeble attempt to block off every person I could ever get close too. But with Seth, I could feel my outer barriers already falling down, my mind beginning to trust him, and that scared me like hell.

I looked up after readjusting my shirt once again, I think I shrinked it in the wash, and rolled my eyes at his confused frown. His hand was still out, hanging awkwardly, as if he still expected me to take it.

"I'm not a cripple, I do have arms and legs", I remarked, crossing my arms defensively over my chest. His frown enhanced with my snappy comment, and I noticed that my heart began to ache the slightest bit, a reaction to his unhappiness. _What in the hell was this boy doing to me?_

"I know. I don't know, I just thought girls like that kind of thing..." he mumbled, his empty hand falling limply to his side. His brown puppy-dog eyes were weakening me, I could feel my harshness fading.

"It's fine. Most girls do, I guess. I'm just not most girls", I admitted, starting to head towards the orange light illuminating from his front door. I thought I heard him mumble something like "You have no idea", from behind me, but I couldn't tell if it was my imagination running wild or not. I was known to have a pretty active one...

The house was a simple box, but had red roses neatly placed in small window boxes, white clapboard shutters, and a welcome mat in front of the door that had a slobbering puppy on it and said 'Wipe your paws'. A warm, family home, reminding me of a '50s television show. I thought I might see a polka dot apron-wearing housewife, with perfectly curled hair, come bustling outside, red lipstick and all, greeting me with a steaming hot casserole in her oven-mitt-covered hands. It was all too flawless. Nothing like my home.

Once I was safely positioned at the front door, and I heard him come up behind me, I turned around, asking if I could go inside with my eyes. He smiled brightly, and even through the darkness, I could see his dark eyes dancing, and nodded with excitement, giving me the go-ahead. I opened the red door softly, stepping into the sweet smelling home. I could feel Seth behind me, his gentle arms wrapping around my waist as I flipped on the light switch, my eyes widening at the interior.

It was something out of a movie. Out of an dream. Something I never, _ever_ had come close to having.

We stood in the living room, floral, wall-papered walls surrounding us, filled to the brim with cheesy school pictures and birthday cake-covered faces. A small vintage television sat in one corner, and a stainless, plaid sofa sitting in front of it, decorative crocheted pillows layered together on it in a orderly fashion. My eyes fluttered to the little sign hanging on one of the walls that read, 'Home is where the heart is'.

I could feel the stinging sensation of tears rising up to my eyes.

I shook my head, trying to clear the haunting images out of my head, but the salty tears were already sliding down my cheeks. I sniffled once, turning my face away from Seth. I couldn't let him see me like this. _Vulnerable._

"Dakota, what's wrong?" He asked softly, craning his neck around to meet my eyes. I covered my face with my hands, furthering our separation. _Why did I have to be so damn emotional? I mean, come on, I had already suffered through the teenage stage!_ I felt his arms tighten around my waist, but I let the sobs flow freely.

As I cried for a good amount of time, I could feel him softly nestle his chin on top of my head, and he began running his warm fingers on my back in rotating circle patterns. It helped soothe me, and slowly the tears began to fade, leaving me alone to deal with the embarrassment leftover from my random breakdown.

"I-I'm s-sorry", I sniffled, swiping my fingertips under my eyes, trying to remove any excess mascara that had run down my cheeks amongst all the tears. He lifted his head off mine, and turned me around to face him head on. Which, of course, I didn't want, so I settled for staring directly at his chest, deliberately avoiding any form of eye contact.

"Don't be sorry. But, why are you crying?" His voice was kind and gentle, almost as if he was speaking to a five year old.

"It's just... your house...it's so...", I paused looking for the right words, "_home-y_. So perfect. Like something out of a T.V. Show", I finished quietly, fumbling with my hands that were shaking for an unknown reason.

He tilted my chin up suddenly, with his hot hand, forcing me to look him in the eyes. I melted when I saw the emotion in his. Love, admiration, respect, sympathy, lust, all combined into one intense demeanor. _Wait, stop Dakota, he's just a guy. Some random guy you just slept with yesterday. He can't love you. You're unlovable._

"I need to go", I blurted, pulling my face away from his soft hold. His face dropped, and re-actively my stomach dropped. Like our bodies were connected in some magical way. _Weird. Not, we-have-the-same-birthday-weird, no, like telepathy-weird. _

Just as my shaking hand reached the silver doorknob, his warm touch grabbed my wrist, spinning me around. His eyes were pained now, as if he was physically hurt by the idea of me leaving him. I had to admit, I was feeling a little numbness at the thought of leaving him, as well..._Stop it! Stop Dakota, he's only a guy. He only wants you for one thing. He's not different. He'll leave you._

But just once, I ignored that little part of myself. Would it hurt to fall in love? Just once, would it kill me to let a guy into my life? Would it be bad to let myself get close to him? What if he left? Could I handle it?

I argued with my internal demons, staring blankly into his glorious face. I could certainly make one exception to my rule, right? Just this once. A small infraction wouldn't hurt me at all. No, I could be happy, maybe. I deserved to be happy. Right?

Before I had enough time to come to a complete decision, his hot lips came crashing down onto mine, molding against the curves of my lips as if they were puzzle pieces, designed to fit together seamlessly.

I reacted after gaining some composure, deepening the passionate kiss with my tongue, prying open his thick lips and diving inside. He tasted amazing, just like I'd remembered, and I couldn't help myself from nipping at his lips a little, running my tongue across the little bite marks afterward, soothing them with my tongue.

I felt the final remains of my sturdy outer walls coming down, leaving me out in the open, susceptible to attack. My heart sitting openly on my sleeve, waiting to be crushed and stomped on. I would only allow this once. I would only make an infraction for Seth.

I broke the kiss to breathe, looking up at him, directly into his dazed eyes, I confirmed my decision. It was crazy...but I was a risk taker.

"I think I love you", I spoke softly, as I my head against his heated chest, listening to his thumping heartbeat vibrate through my ear.

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Now **REVIEW** please! I hope you enjoyed. ...**REVIEW**!


	3. In Which There is Leah

Author's Note:

Here is an update to the story! I know there are some people reading this that haven't commented yet, so please do so! I'd love to hear from you! And to those of you that have commented, thanks for your input, and I hope you continue to comment. Remember, the more comments, the faster I update...just saying. Okay, well, enjoy. Can't wait to hear your thoughts. This is kind of a funny chapter, and I really had a ton of fun writing it.

Happy Reading!

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I hate to admit it, but I don't own anything related to Twilight. This saddens me deeply.

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Ch. 3 In Which There is Leah

He pulled me back, his smile wider than I had ever seen it get since I'd met him. "I love you, too."

He hadn't needed to say the words aloud, I knew already, just by the immensely joyous look in his chocolate eyes. He loved me, too.

A small part of me tried to dismiss this fact, the logical part of brain going back to the old habit of denial. _No one could love me, it wasn't possible. I didn't deserve love. I didn't deserve Seth_, it echoed through my head. I blocked it off, though.

I backed out of his hot embrace, towing his giant body behind me as I shuffled into the tidy kitchen. The white porcelain counter tops were spotless, challenging the ones from the Mr. Clean commercials, even. The terracotta tiled floors were warm, and very smooth against my bare feet. I glanced around at the post-it-note covered refrigerator, old fashioned iron stove, and the vinyl dining room table set, all so family-oriented and inviting.

The kitchen smelled like a mixture of fragrant cooking spices and the musky pine smell that I had recognized the previous night on Seth, when we were in bed. I blushed at the memory. _What was with this fucking blushing? I never blushed. Never._

It sort of seemed like it had never happened, the night with Seth, I mean. He was so innocent and young, and I had took his virginity so easily, and had planned to leave him with only the memory. There was no doubt in my mind that I was a complete asshole and a half. _Like usual._

"What are you thinking about?" His curious voice interrupted my thoughts, transporting me back into present time, where his gorgeous tan face was staring down at me with an expectant expression. I looked straight into his deep brown eyes as I tried to form an answer, and failed miserably. _Sucker._

"Uh...just...um, nothing", I muttered, stuffing my hands into my back jean pockets, spinning around to face away from him, pretending to admire a wolf-shaped salt shaker placed on the table. _I know, totally believable right?_

"If you say so", he whispered nonchalantly, but I could hear the hint of disappointment in his voice.

I looked around the living and dining areas for a few more minutes, running my freckled fingers along Seth's mother's floral plate collection, feeling the soft petals of the daisies that stood in the water-filled glass vase in the center of the table, and rubbing the worn fabric of the plaid couch.

Seth watched me with amazement as I did these things, as if I was the most interesting thing in the world. My face reddened whenever I sensed his deep brown eyes on me. Which was basically like, every minute. I kind of hated, but loved that intense stare he was constantly giving me. It was embarrassing as hell, but it felt so good at the same time.

Finally, after finishing my scope around the rooms, he pulled me out of my trance.

"I'll show you my room", he offered, almost in a question-like format. I nodded my head, hoping to finally reach a bed and get some sleep. The hangover's side effects were starting to wear off, and I felt my eyelids start to droop.

He led me down a narrow hallway, past wooden bedroom doors that he pointed out as belonging to his mother and older sister, Leah.

I nodded sleepily, and I think I saw the edges of his mouth pull up into a tiny grin, but I couldn't be sure with my blurring vision.

Finally, we reached a small, dark room at the end of the hallway, and Seth reached around the door frame to switch on the light.

It was a tiny room, like mine was back at the trailer, no bigger than four by three feet. A twin bed sat against one wall, and I didn't believe Seth could even fit in it with his massive size, and a tiny wooden dresser sat against the other wall.

There was a narrow square window above the head of the bed, the dark night stars glistening in the sky. Before I could stop myself, I fell on top of the bed, wholly exhausted. I heard his rumbling chuckle from behind me, and I blushed, but still remained utterly sleep-focused.

"I'm sorry, I'm really tired. I had a long day", I remarked, rolling over on the bed to inhale his scent off the sheets. It was the best aroma I had ever smelled. I hoped he couldn't tell that I was sniffing his sheets... that's awkward...

"Don't worry about it. You need sleep. I'll be on the couch if you need me." He turned on his heels quickly, but before he could shut the door behind himself, I jumped up to intercept him.

Well, it turned out more like crashing into his rock-hard chest because of the speed I was going combined with my hazy eyes. He grinned down at me though, clearly enjoying our now close proximity.

"No, it's your bed, you sleep in it. I'll sleep on the couch", I stated, starting to tug on his forearm while attempting to mute the blush crawling across my cheeks from his wide smile. He stood firmly in his spot, and I felt my sleep-deprived mind start to drift. I was going to lose this argument if he didn't give in soon.

"I refuse. You'll screw up your back", he argued, crossing his arms defiantly across his broad chest. _Damn him and his chivalry._

"It's your bed, though...", I whined, my last pleading effort out on the table. He shook his head with this resistive little snob-like grin. _Asshole._

I huffed a breath of air, taking my defeat in stride.

"Fine", I grumbled, slumping back to the bed. I could see him smirking in victory out of the corner of my eye. It took everything I had in me not to throw a punch and knock that stupid grin right off his pretty face.

I laid down on the small bed, nestling my head into his sweet-smelling pillow. He stood there for another second, just watching me, before shutting the door.

I felt my heart drop when I was finally left alone in the dark room. It suddenly seemed a lot less inviting now that he was actually gone. It still smelled like him and everything, but the warmth wasn't there. It was like a world without a sun. _Oh, god. Now I sounded like a fricking poet. Next thing I know I'm going to be reciting some romantic shit from Romeo and Juliet._

Eventually, thanks to my hangover and headache finally wearing off, I managed to fall asleep. Yeah, great, good, fan-fucking-tastic.

Yeah, it would've been if I didn't wake up at four in the morning, completely alert and fully charged. _What the fuck am I supposed to do now? _

I didn't have a car, didn't have a phone, didn't even freakin' know where the hell I was. I let out a somewhat hysterical chuckle, thinking about how I always managed to put myself in the most fucked up situations. What can I say, it was a gift.

With nothing else to do, I decided snooping around Seth's house would be sufficent and entertaining enough. I wouldn't be noisy, didn't want to wake him up, but I could still peek around a tad bit. An tiny investigation wouldn't hurt. I was sure Seth wouldn't mind...

So I slowly stripped the sweet smelling covers off my body, creaking open Seth's bedroom door and tip-toeing out into the narrow hallway. The house was cozy, and dead silent. I decided I would check out the other bedrooms first, because they were nowhere near Seth's sleeping body.

I opened the first door to my right, finding a queen-size bed, knit comforter, and expertly carved wooden dresser. The walls were blank, other than a few pictures of black-haired children, who I assumed were Seth and his older sister. _What was her name again...Liz? Lola? Lily? Lena...Leah! That was it, Leah._

I snooped around that room for a little while, coming to the obvious conclusion that it was most likely Seth's mom's room. Knitting needles, a Better Homes and Gardens magazine, and candles led me to that conclusion.

I walked back out into the hallway, still hearing Seth's loud snore, and cracked open the second door. It was dark, the window curtains drawn. I found the light switch, and flicked it on, jumping a foot in the air with what surprise greeted me.

"Who the _FUCK_ are you?" A tall, Native American girl yelled, standing directly in front of my face, staring down at me with murderous dark eyes. _Yep, pretty sure I just wet myself..._

_Nice to meet you too, Leah._

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Did you enjoy this chapter? Or not? Well, go review it and let me know. Heck, tell me about anything if you want. I love reading reviews, they kind of like, make my day.


	4. In Which There is Hopelessness

Author's Note:

Sorry I haven't updated in awhile. I've been up to my neck in homeowrk from the vacation I took, and I have been gradually crawling out of the hole of make-up work. Thanks for all the support, and I hope you all comment. Thanks to those of you who do comment, you make me really happy. Well, here's the new chapter, and enjoy.

Happy Reading!

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I do not own Twilight. I hope Stephanie Meyer leaves it to me in her will, though.

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Ch.4 In Which There is Hopelessness

You know those moments when you're so terrified that you can't even form thoughts? Where you're heart is beating so fast that you're positive every single person around you can hear it? When you're hands involuntarily quiver in fear? Yeah, well, I was having one of those moments.

"I _said_, who the _fuck_, are you?" The gorgeous girl repeated, her tone reminding me of a barking dog. She looked exactly like those crazed murderers do in movies. I wasn't entirely doubting the fact that she would kill me right there, right then.

Me still being tongue-tied, she got unbelievably closer to me, to the point that our foreheads were mere centimeters apart. She lifted her hands to I assumed physically hurt me, but before they made contact with my body, I felt two large hands pull me safely out of her reach and back into the hallway.

"Back _off,_ Leah! She's with me! Leave her alone!" Seth's booming voice yelled from behind me, sending shivers down my back bone. _This is some Jerry Springer shit._

His hands gripped firmly around my shoulders, as he stared Leah down. Her eyes widened at Seth's words, but her strange shocked look was all too soon replaced with baring her teeth in an animalistic way at Seth.

"You _fucking_ did it! You _fucking_ imprin-", she cried, but Seth cut her sentence short.

"Shut up, Leah!" He shouted angrily, but I noticed an underlying anxiety to his command.

She reached out one of her muscular arms, and still baring her bright white teeth and practically growling with seething anger, slammed the door in our faces. A chunk of wood flew off of it at the bottom, leaving a small hole, but neither Seth or Leah seemed to notice this fact.

I felt my body shaking, now that any immediate danger was gone, and I tried to regain control over it. Seth pulled me into his incredibly steaming hot chest, breathing heavily as he cradled me.

"I'm sorry", he whispered, petting my hair with one of his hands. My brain snapped back to life.

"What the hell was her problem?" I asked softly, kind of expecting her to come back out and beat me senseless with a baseball bat or something.

"She's just a little tired. She works a lot", he mumbled, towing me towards the main part of the house and away from the hallway where the confrontation of the year just went down.

I sat down on one of the leather bar stools, and he surfaced with a Cheerio's box from one of the cup boards. I couldn't help but notice that his russet chest was shirtless, revealing his bare, toned muscles to the world. _Oh, dear God. _

He poured two bowls, one normal-sized, the other a serving-bowl size, and generously poured milk over each. He passed the smaller one to me, and walked around with his to sit on the bar stool next to me.

I dug in, realizing I hadn't ate anything in a good day or so, between all the shit going down. I ate fast, finishing my bowl in under five minutes, but when I looked up, Seth had already finished his massive bowl, and was refilling it. No wonder he was so damn huge. The boy ate like a fucking horse.

I slid my empty bowl towards him, shooting a thankful smile his way as I did so. He smiled back.

"You still hungry? I can get you some more?" He asked, his voice calm and eager. I have no damn clue why, but I blushed and turned my head away from his eyes. I caught sight of the clock.

"Nah, I'm full. But you go ahead and eat. I have to get back to work anyway", I reasoned, getting up from the bar stool and heading towards the door. If I didn't leave now, I was gonna be god damn late and Lenny would chew my ass to Canada and back. _Fuck, fuck, fuckity fuck fuck._

"Dakota! Dakota, don't leave yet! Please", Seth revolved me around on my heels, taking my tiny pale hands in his abnormally huge, burning hot ones. I avoided his eyes, knowing that they would only make it harder for me to leave.

"I have work. My boss'll skin my alive if I'm not on time. I have to go", I stated unwaveringly, gently pulling my hands away from his. I heard him sigh, but suddenly, out of the corner of my eye, I saw his down turned mouth distort into a beaming smile. I could almost hear the gears turning in his head. I seemed to have forgotten one important fact about leaving... I didn't have a vehicle. _Shit_.

"Well, you'll need a ride back, huh?" He asked teasingly, his sly grin growing wider by the millisecond. He was not gonna win this. I blurted the first thing that came to my mind.

"I have a friend here. I can get a ride with her", I snapped, shooting him a taunting smirk back. His face dropped a little, but I could see that he wasn't giving up.

"Oh really, well, what's her name then?" He asked, skeptically raising his eyebrows. I didn't miss the hint of desperation in his tone, though.

"Sally. Sally Parker", I blurted, coming up with the most generic name I could. I wasn't so good with spur of the moment thinking. I sucked at it, actually.

He let out a long chuckle, clearly overjoyed that I really didn't have a friend. _Asshole._

I whipped my body around, stomping towards the door again, but as if it was becoming a habit, Seth yanked my arm, spinning me back around to face him. This time his smile was pleading and sincere. I felt my body melt into a puddle on the floor. _Whatever this boy does to me...I swear, it must be illegal._

"I'll give you a ride, okay? Just let me go put a shirt on and I'll take you", he said, running towards his bedroom. I waited impatiently until he resurfaced thirty seconds later with his breath-taking chest covered. _Damn it._

"Let's go", he said, opening the door for me like a gentleman. And opening it again when I got to the car.

The ride was pretty comfortably quiet, I mean, comfortable as it gets for two, basically, strangers that had slept together two days before. We mostly made small talk, weather, that kind of shit, the kind that no one cares about, but talks about it anyway. When we finally reached Port Angeles, I was about an hour late for work. So, in other words, I was pretty much guaranteed to get my head ripped off.

I thanked Seth, and hopped out the passenger side. He looked really wistful for some reason, but I didn't have time to dwell over it, so I headed inside. I barely made it two steps into the door before hell intercepted me. _Lenny._

"What time is it, Dakota? What _fucking_ time is it?" His bald head was red as a fire engine and I was positive steam was about to fly out of his ears.

"Ten o'clock", I whispered, wishing I was a damn turtle so that I could shrink into a shell.

"Ten damn o'clock! I'm sick of putting up with this shit, Harris. I'm so _sick_ of it. I have a lot of other people that need a job and would do a hell of a lot better at it than you. So you know what, you're fired. You're done._ Finished_!"

I felt my stomach drop. I had finally pushed the envelope too far. I finally broke the last straw. I popped the damn huge ass bubble.

"Please, Lenny, I promise, I'll do better, I'll work harder. _Please_, I really need this job", I begged, pleading with the last ounce of hope I held unto.

"How many times have I heard that before? A promise only works if you keep your promises, sweetheart. Now, get out of my store", he muttered harshly, walking back towards the back storage room, leaving me alone and in tears.

I was jobless. I was soon to be homeless. And, I was hopeless.

So, with nothing left to cling unto, I stumbled back outside under the gloomy, overcast sky and found my car. I climbed in and let the tears free. I gripped the steering wheel with so much force that my hands turned purple.

After a good sob-fest, I started the car and headed back to my dad's house. My hands shook un-naturally as I steered the car. I almost went off the road a couple different times, when the slow and steady tears overpowered my vision.

My father wouldn't be home right now, he would be at work, so I would have the house to myself until about five-thirty.

When I finally reached the little gray shack, I slammed the breaks and shuffled into the house. I headed for the bathroom, took a quick, steamy shower in the tiny stall, and changed into some fresh clothes.

I then proceeded to curl up in the fetal position on my tiny bed and cry. Eventually, I cried myself to sleep.

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Enjoy? Go comment and let me know! Will Dakota become a little more hopeful? What do you think?

It would make me very happy to hear from you guys!


	5. In Which There is Good Bad Luck

Author's Note:

Well, as much as I love Dakota's character, I wanted to do a few chapters in Seth's as well. Just to balance it out a bit. It won't be every other chapter. Just once in awhile. This is Seth's experience with the imprinting. I hope you enjoy and review.

Happy Reading!

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I do not own Twilight, but that's only a fact. I can still pretend. Or dream about it.

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(Seth's POV)

In Which There is Good Bad Luck

I had always had some pretty bad luck. Well, that was understatement. I had _REALLY_ bad luck. Guess I wasn't part Irish.

But little things like loosing your cellphone every other week, spilling a steaming hot coffee on yourself weekly, misplacing your car keys on a daily basis, and forgetting every person that you know's birthday every single year aren't extremely horrid things.

Also, stuff like morphing into a wolf whenever you get mad, having your father die from seeing a vampire, and being considered the weakling of the pack are all pretty crappy luck. But still, they're things you learn to accept and deal with, and get over.

But right now. Right now, I think that the worse possible thing that could ever happen to me just did. And I couldn't even call it bad luck.

I had to love it.

So, how did all this start, you ask? Well, that's a long story. But, I will tell you it, anyway.

_*Flashback*_

_"Seth, Jacob's cousin, Tammy, invited us to a college party in Port Angeles tonight. Brady, Collin, and I are gonna go. Quil and Jacob are staying back to drool over Claire and Nessie while they crayon up their coloring books", Embry had told me, after we had finished patrol that day._

_I had nothing else to do that day. Leah was out of town visiting some relatives over in Montana, and mom had gone with her. Either I went to the party with Embry and the other un-imprinted guys, or spend the night alone watching reruns of the Simpsons. _

_"Sure, I'll come along. Sounds fun." I tried to make my voice sound excited, despite my lack of enthusiasm for some crazy rager. _

_It worked._

_"Good. We're running there. We're leaving around eight", Embry informed me, before heading off into the woods towards his house. He still lived with his mom._

_But then again, so did I, so I couldn't really say much._

_I checked my watch, which read seven. I had an hour to get home, eat some supper, and scrape some of the mud off my legs. _

* * *

_Later that night..._

_We had just reached the house that the party was taking place at, and I already could hear the pounding music ringing through my eardrums._

_All four of us phased on the edge of the woods that surrounded the backside of the house, and headed towards the front door. I could smell alcohol, drugs, and a boat load of perfume before I even walked inside. And the stench only intensified as we did._

_The tiny house was packed with people like sardines in a can. I barely had room to move my arms around. But that might have also had something to do with the drunk girls that were crowding around me with suggestive grins on their faces. Their eyes were clouded and hazy, and they all smelled very strongly of cheap perfume. They were dressed in short leather mini skirts and tube tops that showed way more than they should._

_Of course, Embry, Collin, and Brady all didn't mind that sort of attention. Brady had already started making out with one. _

_I, well, I wasn't into that. I never had been. Girls kind of came with being a werewolf, because of our muscular bodies. But, I never, ever took advantage of that. _

_The un-imprinted wolves, besides me, did however take advantage of it. _

_I didn't because I believed someday I would find my imprint, and if she was the perfect match for me, she wouldn't want some player of a guy to call her soulmate. So I made sure to keep my record clean of imperfections, if you know what I mean. _

_But as I tried to pry the greedy little hands off my biceps, my eyes met the most perfect pair of emerald eyes I had ever seen, and I was sure the world had just fallen out from under me. _

_This was her. This was my imprint. She was my imprint._

_She had flaming red hair, that sat in tangles down her back, reaching her waistline. I immediately felt the urge to touch it._

_Her body was tiny, very petite. She was fairly tan, and it looked natural, not fake. She looked like she had little to no muscle on her, mostly just skin and bones. I would have to change that..._

_Her face...I was sure I could stare at it for the rest of my life and never have to look away. It was angled perfectly, an oval shape with high cheekbones. It was covered in freckles, every single inch of it. Her lips were fairly full and a shade of pink that I wasn't afraid to call 'desert rose'. Her lips were slightly parted, so that I had a peek at her white teeth that hinted at a surely stunning smile that I ached to see. And her eyes..._

_Her eyes were the color of the forest floor in La Push. Her eyes were the color of the brightest emerald you could find. They were mesmerizing._

_And this heavenly being was coming towards me. ME! _

_I quickly shoved the remaining clingy girls away from me as she got closer. I breathing hitched as she draped an arm on my shoulder. I felt my skin begin to tingle at her touch._

_She stayed still for a second, before looking up at me with those breathtaking eyes. I noticed they were hazed over slightly though, and it automatically sent my stomach flipping. She was drunk? What if she fainted? What if she died of alcohol poisoning? _

_Suddenly, she leaned over and a few drops of a light brown liquid slipped out of her mouth. She was puking! Oh, god, what do I do? _

_So, I did the only thing I could think of. I grabbed her up into my arms and ran to the nearest empty bedroom. I kicked the door open and set her down carefully on the bed, being sure not to jostle her at all._

_She gave me this wierd look then. I couldn't quite understand or interpet it, but before I could ask her what she was doing, she leaned over and puked more off the side of the bed. My heart was beating incredibly fast now and I was having a full blown panic attack inside._

_"Of course I imprint on an alcoholic..." I muttered quietly, internally beating myself up for insulting my imprint, no matter how small the insult._

_But, as soon as she finished puking, she began staring me down with that bizzare look again. Maybe she was scared of me..._

_Then, she started crawling slowly towards me, and I realized I had somehow advanced to the end of the bed in between her puking and wierd faces._

_Now I caught on. She was drunk. She didn't know what she was doing. I wasn't going to take adva..._

_She jumped towards me, her tiny, freckled hands laying on my chest as she gave me a seductive look._

_Then, before I had a chance to explain myself, she began to slide the sleeves of her tight, little white tank top off. And I couldn't deny the feelings that came to me as she did so._

_She was truly amazing. Her stomach was flat, some of her ribs even showed, and it was too, like her face, coated in freckles. Her breasts were perfect, and I really wanted to hold them in my palms. So badly. _

_And she didn't look ashamed at all. That I was gaping at her with my jaw on the ground._

_But before I could grasp ahold of my intense feelings, she started sliding her tiny jean shorts down her slender legs. I felt my knees wobble._

_They hit the floor with a 'thwap' and I all but had a heart attack right there. She had this red thong on that set something off. Uh oh. _

_Just when I thought my situation couldn't get worse, she made a command. And we all know it's nearly impossible for imprinters to deny their imprints anything. Anything._

_"Fuck me", she whispered, and her voice was amazing. It was high, but raspy, almost like she smoked consistently, which she probably did, and I would have to change that. Smoking could kill you..._

_"Please, Fuck me hard", she requested again, snapping me back to reality. And before I could sort my body's reactions and my practical, mental thoughts, I was on the bed, over her. Over an angel._

_She yanked me down to her and brought my lips to her plump ones as she ran her hands through my hair. She pushed her tongue into my mouth and I thought I was going to overload with senses right there. She tasted so sweet and welcoming, she felt so good, and she looked like a goddess._

_I waited patiently for her to end the kiss, but she didn't. Instead she bucked into me once, and my tongue entered her mouth. I traced over her all her teeth and her tongue, savoring the sweet taste._

_Before I had finished, she pushed away from the kiss. I thought she had maybe realized that she didn't know me and was going to say she never wanted to see me again or some horrible thing like that. _

_But, I didn't have to panic for long because she brought our lips back together quickly. Her small fingers started to brush soft patterns on my lower stomach, each time getting dangerously closer to the waistband of my cargo shorts._

_With one abrupt movement, she had managed to pull them all the way down my legs, revealing my plaid boxers. _

_I knew what was coming next. But I had no clue how to do it._

_She started reaching behind her to un-clasp her lacy bra, and I couldn't find it in me to protest. I was so weak. I leaned back instead, giving her room to throw it to the side. And that she did._

_She looked perfect right now. I reached out my hands slowly, letting the sensation set in as I cupped her perfect breasts. She moaned, a sound so perfect I had to grin. I had done that to her. I had provoked her to make that sound._

_I started brushing my thumbs over her pink nipples, fighting off the urge to bring my mouth to them, thinking it might creep her out a bit._

_She reached down and pulled off her last article of clothing, the thong. As she reached over me with them in hand, I caught a whiff of something. Her panties were wet. She was wet. I did that._

_With that piece of clothing gone, I realized she was comepletely naked down there. I was a virgin. I had never seen that place on a girl. I was honestly a little nervous to look._

_The angel must have caught on to my unsurity, because she fisted my hair and positioned my head. _

_"Open them", she ordered me in her raspy voice. I couldn't disobey._

_I did as she asked and opened my eyes. _

_She was beautiful here, too. But, still, my face reddened. I had never seen this on a girl. I didn't know much. I didn't know what was what and how it all worked._

_I looked back into her face, and curiously thumbed a spot to see what it would do to her._

_She whined. She WHINED! I couldn't get tired of that noise._

_I kept pressing down on that spot with the tip of my thumb, relishing in the whinny she let out each time. _

_"Just f-fuck me", she whimpered, as I pressed down once again on the spot. She looked so pretty right now. Her long hair all spayed out over the pillow with this excited look in her emerald eyes. _

_She didn't wait for my reply, and anxiously yanked my boxers down my legs._

_I stared at her face, watching as she looked at me. Then she laid back down and closed her eyes. _

_What does this mean? What am I supposed to do now?_

_She soon opened her eyes again, seeing that I had no clue what I was doing. She abruptly thrust her hips towards me, and I could feel her heat radiating under me. Then, with one jab, I was in her. She was so tight, and hot, burning hot, and it felt so good. I wanted to stay this way for the rest of my life. In her._

_But, I knew that making love involved more than just sitting with me inside her. Health class taught me at least that much. I started to pull myself in and out of her, and realized that this feeling was amazing, too._

_I didn't forget her face though. I crushed my lips against her pretty often, enjoying all the feelings consuming my attention._

_After awhile, she whinnied and went limp against me, and I fell at the exact same moment, releasing into her. Part of me was inside her now. I loved that fact._

_She laid against my chest, and almost immediately fell asleep. I brushed her sweaty hair away from her face for a few minutes, just enjoying the sight of the peaceful girl bedside me. _

_My imprint. I had some really good bad luck._

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Go review! Let me know what you thought!


	6. In Which There is Mental Insanity

Author's Note:

HOORAY! I am so very sorry that I haven't updated in my normal amount of time, but I have great news for all of you! Since my school year just ended (SUMMER 2012, AHHH!), I will have plenty more time for updating, which should mean you will have more updates, more often. Yay! So, anyways, here is the new chapter, back to Dakota's POV, so I hope you all enjoy. And...I found some pictures of how I picture Dakota and Seth looking like. (My Seth is the same one from the movies, so if you have seen them, you probably know that he's hot. Really hot.) So enjoy those, and remember to review. Happy summer!

Here is the link to those pics. It's on my photobucket account.

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photobucket

.com

/albums/gg509/Mojohd16/

Opposites%20Attract/

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And Happy Reading!

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I do not own any of the Twilight characters. But what I do with them in my dreams, well, as far as I know, that's legal.

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Ch. 6 In Which There is Mental Insanity

I woke up to a knock at the door. No one ever comes to the trailer, unless it's the government to chew our 'ungrateful' asses out for not paying the bills on time. But after I chased one of 'em out of the house with a rusty frying pan a few months ago, they stopped knocking and just left the notices on the door instead.

I considered just letting the person knock, assume no one was home, and leave, just so that I didn't have to get up. But then I realized that my clunker of a car might be a little bit of a giveaway to that plan. I shoved myself out from under my comforter and checked my reflection in a mirror.

Black streaks of runny mascara coated my freckled cheeks, my fiery red hair was strewn out in every direction, like usual, and my clothes were spotted with tear stains and some of the mascara mess.

I quickly slipped out of my dirty clothes and grabbed a new pair of dark blue skinny jeans. I also yanked an tie-dye t-shirt out of my drawer and pulled it over my head. I ran my fingers through my hair a few times, just to somewhat smooth out the ends at least, and wiped away the mascara from my cheeks with a wet paper towel.

After I was satsfied with my speedy clean-up attempt, and ran to answer the door.

I might have expected to find a government official. Or even Mrs. Mathers, our trailer neighbor with about forty cats, hell, I wouldn't have been surprised to see Justin Bieber in the flesh standing on the doorstep. But, I definitely, not in a million years, expected to see my handsome one-night-stand man. Seth.

He smiled up at me with this sentimental half-smile. His eyes were sympathetic, as if he was sorry for some odd reason. Okaaaaay...

"Hey Dakota", he said, his voice calm and relieved. I felt a little dizzy and confused. How the hell did he find me? My house?

"Hey, uh, Seth." Cue awkward silence.

"Can I come in?" He asked, taking a step closer to me and peering over my head into the living room area. Creep.

"Um..." What the fuck am I supposed to do? Let him in? Wait, why was he here again?

"I just needed to talk to you", he explained, as if he could read my mind.

"Okay, uh, well", I opened the door and he stepped inside, "Do you maybe want some water or something?"

"Water would be great, thanks", he sat down on the edge of our plaid couch. I went to the kitchen to get him a glass of a water, and hopefully get control of myself and my sputtering heart.

I filled a glass from the tap, momentarily distracted by the cup's design. It read, "Kota's first Birthday" in purple puffy paint handwriting. My mom's handwriting.

I finished filling the cup and gathered some focus from my brain. I padded back out to the living area and handed the glass to Seth, who was paging through one of my father's NASCAR magazines that was set out on the coffee table.

He smiled widely at me. "Thanks."

I simply nodded and sat down on my father's chair over in the corner of the room. The farthest seat from my visitor.

"So...what did you need to talk about?" I asked, cracking my knuckles absentmindedly to seem a little bored. It might get him out of here faster if he feels like I don't care about whatever he has to say.

"Uh, actually, there's a lot we need to talk about", he corrected, shooting me a sheepish smile. Well, this should be tons of fun. Fuck.

"Well, you better get started then, 'cause my dad'll be home in a few hours", I warned, narrowing my eyes at him to show my annoyance.

"Do you, uh, know anything about the Quiluete Indians? Like, the legends and stuff?" He asked, fingering the rim of the glass.

I didn't think I did. I mean, I've been to a couple parties down in that area, but it's not like I've heard any tribal shit like that. Just know that some of those kids know how to throw a rager. Alchohol, sex, and some nice acid and coke.

"Nothing."

"Oh", he mumbled, clearly disappointed by my lack of knowledge. Ah well, not the first time. My eleventh grade biology teacher was pretty _disappointed_ by that, too. "Well, then I'll have to start from scratch."

Wasn't that term usually used in baking?

"Well, the Quiluete's believe that our descendants were wolves," he began, eyeing my carefully, "We believe that their blood runs in our blood."

Blood. Nice topic choice, Seth.

"Yeaaahh...", I said, prompting him to continue.

"Well, we also believe in these things called 'spirit warriors', which are protectors of the tribe, that shapeshift into different animals to do so."

What the fuck does fucking werewolves have to do with anything? Maybe this Seth kid was mentally insane.

"Yeah, so, well, I'm one. I'm a spirit warrior", he said with conviction, his face completely serious.

I bursted into fits of giggles, not able to control myself. _God, this kid was so fucking screwed up if he thought he was a werewolf. Oh. My. God!_

"Dakota?" His voice was small and worried. His thick, black eyebrows were pulled together, his face a little confused.

"Hmmm?" I answered, still occupied with my fit of laughter.

"I'm being serious." _Sure you are... _

"Yeah, _right_. And I'm fucking Ghandi's cousin", I teased back, trying to catch my breath.

"No, really. I can...", he paused, considering something, "I can show you."

Show me? Show me what? A werewolf?

"Are you like, an escapee from a mental insitution or something like that?" I asked, my real thoughts finally breaking through the barrier of my 'polite side'.

"No. Trust me. I'll show you. Let's go outside right now." He got up from the couch, setting the half-empty glass of water on the coffee table. He headed for the front door, then whipped his head around to face me. I was still sitting on my dad's chair, but my giggling had ceased.

I slowly felt my legs pull me up off the rickety chair and head towards the door, following Seth. Then it hit me. Full-on.

This man was serious about this. He couldn't be a werewolf. They were just some horror-movie, fictional characters that were invented to scare the shit out of people. It was just folktales. Hype.

Right?

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I know, I know. Sort of shorter than normal. Well, I figured it was a good place to stop, and I wanted to end with a cliffhanger. Let me know what you think's gonna happen and what you thought?

Remember to check out the pics on my photobucket account! What do you think of them?


	7. In Which There is Howling

Author's Note:

Guys? Hello? You There? No, I'm just kidding. But really, I didn't see any reviews for the last chapter! I just want to remind you all that I love reviews, and if you are, don't be afraid to review. I enjoy hearing from you, and want your comments and suggestions. Anyways, here's the new chapter. It's more or less funny, if anything. But, it is completely relative to the storyline, and needed to happen for their relationship to progress. So...remember to comment.

Happy Reading!

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I don't own Twilight, I just play with it.

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Ch. 7 In Which There is Howling

"Stay here, and, uh, remember to look in my eyes", Seth told me, "Oh, and wait for me to come to you." I nodded, feeling my heartbeat become borderline erratic. The only other time in my life I can remember being this nervous was when I was sentenced to spend a year in a juvenile detention center.

I was 14 at the time, and had got busted stealing some clothes from a store in the mall. Juvy actually wasn't so bad, either, once you got used to it, and made a name for yourself. After the first week, I had everyone calling me "Spitfire", and I never had problems with any of those kids again.

Seth smiled half-heartedly as he turned his muscular back to me and started walking towards the forested area surrounding the clearing. He had dragged me through some woods behind my trailer park, until we found this empty clearing, claiming "We have to be sure no one else can see us".

As his silhouette disappeared, I contemplated a few ideas. One, I could make a run for it, and avoid this whole situation entirely, the only problem being if he wanted to, Seth could easily catch me. At least he looked like he could catch me. Just using his long legs, he probably had five feet on every step of mine.

Two, I could go head-butt a tree over there and confirm whether or not I'm dreaming all this shit up. That sounded like a good plan, but Seth assured me over and over again on the way out to this clearing that I was in fact, awake. So...if he is correct, and not lying to me, and I am awake, I'd rather not end up in the emergency room this afternoon.

And option three, I could just wait here for him to come to greet me in his _'wolf form'_ as he called it, and that's what he wanted me to do. I don't like doing what people want me to do. It's far too boring.

Normally, I would go with option number one, at least attempt to make a run for it, I was actually pretty fast from all my practice with the cops, but one thing was stopping me from doing that. It was this stupid nagging feeling right in heart, just the thought of leaving right now seemed like it would hurt. I didn't really understand why exactly I was having this strange feeling, but I couldn't ignore it.

So, I fiddled anxiously with my fingers, biting them and cracking them, until I noticed some slight movement over in the direction of Seth's departure. I heard some brief rustling of leaves before I noticed two abnormally large paws hit the green ground out of the corner of my eye. I took a deep breath, knowing that this creature, this being, was Seth, or whatever Seth had become.

I wanted to run, sprint away as fast as my body could manage and never look back. But my legs seemed to turn to cement blocks, weighing my feet down onto the ground. I suddenly felt a little dizzy, almost nauseous at the mere idea of this creature coming towards me. I hadn't even seen more than it's paws, and already I felt like fainting.

_Suck it up_, I told myself. _You're a big girl, you've dealt with cops, criminals, and the damn government. You can handle a wolf._

So, to get it over with, I lifted my head up, exposing my eyes wholly to the sight in front of me. Right on the edge of woods, barely peeking out of the shady, green coverage, was a sandy-colored beast, bigger than a car, but smaller than a bulldozer.

There was no doubt in my mind that whatever type of animal that this thing in front of me was, it could definitely kill any human.

My heart felt like it just might pound right out of my chest, onto the ground, and go find a cemetary to bring a corpse back to life. I blinked my eyes rapidly a few times, trying to see if I was seeing clearly.

Then somewhere in my brain, a thought came back to me. Seth had said to look into his eyes. The creature's eyes?

I let my gaze drift to the monstorous wolf's face, it's black nuzzle, it's perky ears, and finally, it's deep brown eyes. Suddenly it hit me like a ton of bricks. Those eyes, they had been the same ones above me in bed the other night, and the same ones that became crazed when Leah had confronted me, the same ones that suddenly seemed a lot more beautiful. _Those are Seth's eyes._

I felt a small smile form on my face, a gesture that I hoped would encourage the wolf to come closer, that I was okay, now. I felt my heart begin to slow down, and when it did, I noticed the wolf made a few steps in my direction, it's eyes on me the entire time.

I suddenly felt excited, like I couldn't wait any longer for this giant beast to reach me. I felt the urge to run my fingers through it's fur, threading them into the sandy softness of it. It looked really silky. And I wanted to ask so many questions. _God, I'm so confused right now. I know I should be scared, but I fucking love this!_

"Hurry up!" I yell, watching as the wolf's ears cock up at my command. He moves a tiny bit faster towards me, but still at a pretty slow pace. "Fuck, Seth, I don't have all frickin' day!"

The wolf's eyebrows shoot up, it's face distorting into an expression that looks all too human to be an animal's.

The huge creature finally reaches my spot, and I don't fail to notice that it's head is towering about ten feet above my head. _Yep, need to change that._

"Are you planning on coming down here or are you gonna make me come up there?" I ask, and the wolf gives a snort, very similar to a laugh, and lays down so that it's head is resting on the ground. It's deep brown eyes are right in front of me now, watching me intently.

I take a calm breath of air.

"Can I, like, pet you, or something?" I question awkwardly, unsure of how to word my statement since this is Seth in front of me, not just some wild animal.

It smiles, a goofy smile with it's long red tongue lolling out to the side, letting me know that petting is okay. I take a hesitant step forward before reaching my hand out to a spot right behind it's ear. The tan fur is just as soft and silky as I imagined it would.

I remember my amount of questions, picking out the ones that have yes or no answers, instead of the ones that I know will require further explanation.

"Do you like being a wolf?" I inquire, and he looks up at me with wide eyes. I wonder if I maybe said something insulting or something that crossed a line.

Before I could apologize, he nodded his head, a tiny smile playing on it's lips, one without showing his teeth. I can't help but wonder if that's because I'm so close to him.

_Well, he likes being a wolf. That's probably a good thing, since he definitely is._

"Do you like being pet?" I ask, knowing the answer is yes, at least it is by the soft hums that are coming from his chest as I run my fingers through the hair.

He nodded, winking at me with this playful glimmer in those eyes that I really, really love.

"Do you howl?" I question, before I can stop myself. _That would be so cool..._

This time, he glances back up at me with curious eyes, nodding, but I can tell what he's thinking, just by the look in his eyes.

_Why?_

"Howl for me", I say, excited to hear this.

He gives another curious look, telling me I'll be expected to explain my reasoning later, but he stands up and moves away from me. Once he's about twenty feet away, he sits on his hind legs and raises his massive head towards the sky.

Before I can get lost in how beautiful he looks...woah, woah woah, wait, _beautiful?_ Where the _hell_ did that come from? I never call anybody beautiful. I don't like where this is going...

A long howl rips through the air.

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Soooo...? Oh, and do you like my cover picture for the story? Dakota's on it, if you haven't seen her on my photobucket link already.


	8. In Which There is Shit Over Heads

Author's Note:

New chapter! OH YEAH! And early, that's new for me...haha. Well, I really like how this chapter turned out, every time I read it, it makes me smile. And it really sets up some nice things for later on. So...hope you enjoy and make sure you review your thoughts on it! :)

Happy Reading!

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I am not a Mormon. I don't have three sons. I don't live in Arizona. My name is not Stephanie Meyer. Therefore, I don't own Twilight.

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Ch. 8 In Which There is Shit Over Heads

As Seth sat back down again, laying his massive canine head down on the messy grass, I sat down next to him running my fingers through his sandy fur. It felt so good in between my fingers, like smooth velvet, or un-snagged silk. He was warm, too, his body radiated the same heat it did when he was human, but it was even more magnified with his thick coat of fur. I could feel soft rumbles of contentment vibrating in his chest as I stroked the spot right behind his left ear. I couldn't help but let out a little laugh when his hind leg started twitching, just like it would on a real dog. _I wonder if this works when he's human..._

I sat there for a half hour or so, just enjoying Seth and the peaceful hum of the forest surrounding us. The melody of bird calls, the slight rumming of a stream that must be near by, and the gentle noise that resulted from tree branches brushing up against each other filled the air. The silence was nice for awhile, but it allowed my mind to wander too far. Reality eventually invaded my thoughts, and my world came back, crashing down on me with more force than I ever imagined it would.

The wolf nudged my leg with a little whine, almost as if he could suddenly tell the change in my thoughts. Before I knew it, I let it all out...

"I got fired. I have a hundred dollars in the bank, that's it. I don't know what I'm gonna do, you know? My dad doesn't make much, definitely not enough to pay all the bills. I'm screwed. We're gonna lose our house, we can barely buy food as it is, and, and, _FUCK_! I can't do this! _God_ d_amn it_! _ARHGGGGHHHH_!" I screamed, my voice echoing through the air, leaving a bitter taste on my tongue.

I started bawling, like a little whiny baby, burying my face right into Seth's fur on his neck. I gripped it hard, my knuckles turning white in contrast to my normally tan skin. He didn't make a sound though, but I couldn't imagine him not being in pain with how hard I was yanking.

_Life was fucking unfair_. Life gave some snooty, stuck-up, dumbass people loads of cash, and they gave other people shit like this. _I didn't fucking sign up for this shit!_

I felt Seth's surprisingly damp muzzle against my head, nuzzling me in comfort. That set my mind straight, and I remembered that I had just bared my soul. Suddenly I felt very self-concious.

I mean, obviously when I'm drunk I sometimes did stupid things like that when I wasn't thinking, but I was one hundred percent sober right now. Well, can't reverse time I guess.

"Sorry, I didn't mean to...uh, do _that_", I apologized swiftly as I unlatched my fingers tight grip from his fur. My hands suddenly felt very empty.

The wolf let out another short whine before standing up and trotting promptly back to the protection of the trees. _Great, I fucking just scared away a damn werewolf. I must look like shit then 'cause a werewolf is pretty damn scary itself._

Shockingly, moments later, Seth, the man, appeared along the tree line, slipping a plain brown tee shirt over those fucking yummy abs. I was momentarily distracted, in all honesty, because well, they were near damn perfect. _I want to lick those abs..._

He stalked over to me, his face a blank mask, not really showing any form of emotion. I wondered why he was coming back at all after I treated him as my own personal human tissue, but I didn't have the energy to wonder or care. He was probably just coming back to kick my ass for crying all over him.

But, yet again, he surprised me by sitting down behind my back, sliding his legs up right next to mine and wrapping his huge, chiseled, and very hot arms around my body. He laid his head on top of mine, warming every single part of my body at the same time.

"Wha...what are you doing?" I stuttered, still confused as to why he was still here after I bawled all over him, but not complaining about his body wrapped around mine. _Long term relationships were never really my thing, but damn, this I could get used to..._

"What do you mean, 'What are you doing?', I'm hugging you, silly", Seth replied in that 'duh' tone of voice. Even so, his arms tightened around me, almost protectively, as if someone was going to take me away from his grasp.

"I mean, why are you still here? I bawled all over you and threw all my shit over your head", I reminded him, and even I noticed how grave my voice was.

The thought of him leaving me alone right now was hard to think about, but he was definitely out of my league. As much as I maybe wanted him, even_ needed_ him, he deserved a nice, normal girl who could keep her fucking ducks in a row. I was _not_ that girl.

"I don't think you understand me, Dakota. I want your 'shit over my head'. I want to help you deal with it. I wanna make you happy, make your worries go away...", he mumbled lightly, and I desperately wanted to see his face at that second, I wanted to know if he was serious. No fucking guy I ever knew wanted to help me - fuck me, yes, but help me, no. Never.

"Seth, I don't think you understan-", I interrupted, wanting to stop him before I got my hopes up. I didn't need more let-downs right now. I was so fucking tired of being screwed over.

"_NO!_ I don't think _you_ understand, Dakota. I want - _need_ to help you. It's what I want, believe me", Seth interjected, his voice loud and clear.

My heart jumped. _Fucking_ jumped, in my chest.

"You don't have to", I practically whispered, after a second.

I wanted to believe him, to give him my heart completely and trust him to be careful with it. But I was naturally guarded, I wasn't a girl to wear her heart on her sleeve and pray that no one stepped on it. I was the girl that pushed people away, even if it hurt me, just to prevent my heart from getting crushed. I would always be that way.

"Yes, Dakota, I do", Seth said, his voice low, but still holding the same intensity as before. I wanted to hate him. I should hate him. I shouldn't have ever seen him again after that night at the party. My life should have gone on like always, work, drink, repeat. It was perfectly fine that way. But then this big, extremely hot (in both ways), sweetheart of a guy came walking into my life, flipping it entirely upside down in a matter of a couple days. It just didn't make sense...but I, I think I loved him. And not like 'drunk love'. No, like real, sober loved him. And that fucking scared the hell out of me.

Seeing that I really was at a loss for words, he leaned back, adjusting my body so that I was cradled in his arms more like a baby, rather than wrapped up in him. He looked down at me with those big, brown eyes, the ones that reminded me so much of a child's, innocent and pure, and I knew I couldn't deny it anymore. I had fallen head over heels for him. My heart, although he may not know it, was his now.

"Well, first things first, we'll need to get you a job. Hmm...well, my mom works at the clinic in La Push, and they're looking for a secretary..." He said, and I could hear that smile in his voice.

A hospital secretary. Not bad. Probably makes decent money, better than the grocery store, but there was one immediate problem. I didn't live in La Push...

"Seth, I don't live there", I said, my voice oozing disappointment. I was never going to find a job, especially when I had been fired so many times. My resume was probably full of red stamps displaying my lack of 'responsibility' and 'charisma'.

"Yeah...but I was thinking you could move in with me. You know, at least until you get on your feet and can rent a house..." He offered, dangling a tempting option in front of my face. It was a good plan, it would help me out a lot, but still, what about my dad? He wouldn't be able to pay rent, and I couldn't leave him here alone, all by himself. He wouldn't be able to keep up with the bills and he'd eventually get evicted and end up on the streets. I may not be very close with him, but he still was my father, and I owed it to him to stay.

"My dad. I can't leave him. He doesn't make enough money for all the bills."

Seth seemed to stop and think for a second, his face becoming focused, his gaze distant. I took this small window of oppurtunity to admire him. He was beautiful, if that made any fucking sense. He had the smoothest, creamy copper skin. His short, cropped black hair was messy, the ends of it resting on his upper forehead. His eyes, well, his eyes had no words that would do them justice. They just took my breath away every time I looked at them, chocolate pools swirling with flecks of carmels and creams. His nose was broad, but was childish as well, cute but still defined at the same time. His full lips, most of the time pulled into a smile. They were soft, memories of the few times we kissed dotting my mind. His jawline was sqaured, hard and angular, signs of his manhood peeking through, despite his very child-like, baby face. He was gorgeous, I could hardly believe anyone as sexy as him wanting me.

"He'll move, too. We have a small shed out back, it's not much, but we used to use it when we went camping on the lake in the summers. Once my dad died, mom had it moved to our back yard. Your dad could live in it. And he can get a job down at the auto shop in town", Seth said, his words coming out rushed in his excitment.

He had me there. He had thought of every thing, there was no reason to not move, now. I did need one last thing, though. My dad had to agree.

"Seth, how do you feel about meeting my dad?"

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What'd you think? What's up next for these two?


	9. In Which There is Many Questions

Author's Note:

Okay, I felt generous, and I had free time on my hands, so I am updating...AGAIN! So soon? I know. Well, here's the new chapter, it's one of my favorites so far...I think my writing is improving as the story progresses. Let me know what you think of it and leave a review, I respond to as many as I can.

Happy Reading!

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I do not own any Twilight. If I did, however, it wouldn't have any fade-to-blacks...if you know what I mean. (Wink, wink)

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Ch. 9 In Which There is Many Questions

Seth and I waited it out until my father got home from the factory. We spent most of the afternoon sitting on the couch together, talking about the most random things. At least_ I_ thought they were the most random things, Seth seemed to act like our conversation was completely normal.

"What's your favorite color?" _What the fuck kind of question was that? Were we in third, fucking, grade?_

"Don't have one", I replied simply, ready for the next question to be shot my way, but apparently Seth had different plans.

"C'mon, you _have_ to have a favorite color! Pink? Green? Burgundy?"

_Oh. My. Fucking. God._

"Fine. Gray", I stated through clenched teeth.

"Really? You seem more like a hot pink type of girl", he teased, his smile wide and dopey. I wanted to smack it off his face, but decided against it. If he and I were gonna give this whole 'relationship'(_gag)_ thing a try, I probably shouldn't be practicing my left hook on him.

"Shut up", I snapped back, even though a miniscule smile did make its way to my lips. It was hard to stop it from appearing when Seth looked so damn cute when he grinned. _Cute? _

_God, I don't even recognize my own thoughts when I'm around him..._

"Oh, this is a good one. How old _are_ you?" He asked, his eyes very intent and curious, like my reply meant the world to him._ Pft._

"Nineteen as of July-frikin-fourth", I answered in a slightly annoyed tone. I always hated my birthday, I mean, the Fourth of July? Fucking really?

The only thing cool about it was that beer was easier to get because of all the random coolers sitting around while rednecks set off fireworks and had tail-gating parties.

"Hey, I'm nineteen, too. Awesome!" _Yeah, freaking fantastic_. "And your birthday's the fourth of July!" _Again, fucking fantastic._ If he's this overly enthusiastic sober...this kid is probably hilarious when he's drunk off his ass.

_Mental-note-to-self: Get Seth drunk off his ass sometime. Hilarity will most likely ensue._

"Favorite food?" _Now that, I could answer!_

"Spaghetti, all the way", I proudly replied, envisioning the sauce-covered noodles in my mind.

"Me too!"_ Huh. Weird._

"Favorite Song?" I have so many, but there was one that I never got tired of dancing to when I partied or went clubbing.

"_'Sexy Can I'_ is probably my favorite", I admitted, and his jaw dropped while his eyes glazed over. The look on his face suggested he might very well be day-dreaming about me dancing to that song.

A drop of drool rolled down his chin.

_Yep, he's totally envisioning me dancing to it._

"R-_really_?"

I nodded my head once, pretending to admire my nails, just to add to the dramatic effect. In truth, my nails were pretty shitty. I chewed on them so much that they were down to little stubs.

"Uh, uh, do you have a favorite movie?" _Oh yeah. Most definitely._

"Talladaga Knights. Best movie ever made." _God, I FRICKIN LOVE Will Ferrel._ He is like, the best human being to ever walk this planet. Seth was hot and all, but if I ever got the chance, I would _so_ date Will Ferrel.

"If you ain't first", I began, my favorite quote from the movie in my, if I do say so myself, amazing, southern accent.

"Your last!" Seth finished, before I got the chance to, in his own version of a southern drawl. He beamed at me and his white teeth were so damn bright I thought I would go blind for a second or two.

I didn't hesitate in giving him a _'What in the fucking hell was that?_' sort of look, and his smile faded into an embarassed pout. He actually reminded me of a dog with their tail in between their legs.

_A dog. Ha, how ironic..._

"All the pa-, uh, my friends, they love that movie", he explained, his voice soft and quiet, like he felt horrible for making me a tiny bit irritated.

"I'm sure they do", I stated, smiling a little bit because the guilt was starting to eat away at me. Some gut feeling refused to let Seth be sad. Like some pull inside me told me that I should be making Seth laugh and smile.

Let me tell you, it was plain fucking-weird. Like some freaky sci-fi shit.

Our conversation slowed down as the clock got closer and closer to the end of my dad's shift. He would be home any minute now, and I could see some small signs that clued me in to Seth being nervous. He started twiddling his thumbs in his lap. He chewed on his bottom lip, which sort of turned me on for awhile, until he stopped. And when we heard the my dad's loud muffler come up the driveway, small worry lines appeared on his forehead. When they did, I had this weird feeling in my stomach, and a drive to get rid of Seth's worry lines by making him smile. It was hard to ignore, but I shoved it to the back of my mind.

The feeling was far too strong to have for someone who I just met a couple days ago. I hoped I wasn't getting too attached...

I guess I should be nervous, too, especially since I had never brought a guy home to introduce to my father. I had never needed to, since I only had one-night-stands in the past. I wonder how he was going to act towards Seth? What if he denied the proposal to move to La Push?

Before I could think about anything else, the front door opened and my father walked in, his face tired and his uniform dirty from the meat-plant's products. I walked towards him right away, Seth following closely behind me.

"Hey, pops. How was work?" I asked, trying to make him comfortable before he noticed Seth. _Too late..._

He set his jacket on the coat hanger and then looked up to me. I guess he noticed Seth right away because his eyes grew huge and he looked like he saw an alien. I could tell he was debating between grabbing me and running like a bat out of hell, or taking the old Louisville slugger from his childhood days, that was sitting in the corner, to Seth's fat head and preceding to beat it to a pulp.

"Uh, nice to meet you, sir", Seth said politely, offering his large hand towards my dad's to shake. My dad kind of gaped at him for a few more seconds before taking it in his.

"Dakota, _who_ is this?" My father asked, his voice hard to read. I couldn't really tell if he was furious, shocked, or scared for his life. My bet was on a little bit of all three.

"Seth, dad. We're..."

_What exactly were we? Friends? Friends with benefits? Boyfriend and girlfriend? Hell, I had no clue..._

"We're really good friends", Seth finished for me, sending a small wink my way. I gave him a thankful smile back. _Really good friends, hmm, I think I could deal with that._

"Yeah, dad, I need to talk to you about something", I said, feeling a little anxious now that the time had come.

"Okay well, let me get a beer and we can talk in the living room", my dad stated, heading towards the refridgerator. "You want one, Seth?"

Seth shook his head, declining, and went to sit on the couch.

I sat down next to him, not as close as we had been sitting when we were alone this afternoon, but still, closer than an arm's length away.

"Here you go, Koty", my dad handed me my usual Miller Light and sipped on his own while he sat down in his chair. Seth looked surprised that I drank, and that my dad encouraged it, but I ignored his incredulous stares.

We sat in a uncomfortable silence for a few minutes, waiting for my dad to finish off his beer. He looked really exhausted today, even more so than usual, and I began to worry he might take this really wrong if he's in such a bad mood already.

"So...what's the news, Kot?" My dad finally questioned, shifting in his chair. His expression was still unreadable, so there was really no way to tell what he was thinking at this point. Which made me more anxious. If that was actually possible, at this point.

"Well, I - I lost my job, dad. Lenny fired me yesterday", I half-whispered, feeling like the room was suddenly too quiet.

My dad looked worried for a second, his eyebrows furrowing momentarily, but he quickly gained his composure back just as fast.

"Don't worry baby, you'll get a new one fast. People are always looking for new employees around here", my dad exclaimed in a positive tone, although if you knew him well enough, like I did, you could sense the underlying disappointment laced through it. He knew there was no way we were gonna be able to pay the bills without my check, too. Plus, he and I both knew that no one was hiring around here, and if they were, they wouldn't give me, the kid that was fired over five times, the light of day. I was officially fucked, and we both knew it. Unless...

"Uh, actually dad, Seth found me another job, or at least one to apply for. It's for a clinic secretary, so it'll pay pretty well, I think...", I explained, itching to get out the truth.

_I am so damn nervous right now..._

"Great! That's great, you'll get it, Koty, I know you will", he boomed, his voice filling the small room with echos of joy.

"Um, there's one other thing, though", I paused, taking a deep breath and turning my face to Seth to avoid my father's face. Seth shot me a comforting smile.

"It's in La Push."

Silence. This was like one of those silences where the cricket noise should be inserted, just because it was _that_ awkward.

"Wh-what? La Push?" He wondered quietly, and I chanced a glance in his direction. His face was dead serious and his tone hard and cold.

"Yeah, uh, La Push. You know, the Indian Reservation over by Forks", I specified, my voice rushed and shaky.

"That's over an hour away."

"I know."

"So, you're moving?" _Ah. Shit. _

"Um, most likely. But, hey, uh, Seth has a guest house you could live in. You could come with me to La Push. There's a job at the auto shop there, Seth said it's probably yours if you want it", I mumbled hurriedly, my voice barely audible, but I knew my father could hear it. His facial expressions certainly suggested he could.

"Kota, I've lived here for so long. This house...I can't - "

Fuck. Fuckity. Fuck, Fuck, Fuck.

Fuck.

"I know, dad, I - ", I turned to Seth in disappointment. I might have wanted to try out a relationship with Seth, but my dad was...exactly that, _my dad_. I wouldn't leave him behind. I couldn't.

"Dakota. Go", my dad commanded after a second, his voice firm and strong.

_What? Go? What is he talking about?_

"Go to La Push."

_What? And leave him? I couldn't? What is he talking about?_

"But, but dad, you'll lose the hou- ", I began my list of reasons why I couldn't leave him alone, but he interrupted me before I got the chance to finish.

"Kota, I can take care of myself, I'm a grown man. You need to get out of here, make your own mistakes, find your own life. You've been stuck here too long, taking care of my sorry ass, and I can't believe I've allowed it to go on this long. I'm real sorry for it, baby. Go to La Push, be happy." My dad explained, his voice still strong, but I could see the sadness seeping through his eyes.

_How can he even think I could leave? Without him?_

"Dad, you don't know what you're saying..." I tried to reason with him, shaking my own head in denial and disbelief.

"Koty, don't worry about me. I _want_ you to go."

_Could I even contemplate this? Was it even a decision? Could I really leave him? And go with Seth? By myself?_

"What do you do for a living?" My father seemed to have deemed me 'taken care of' and faced Seth, now.

I couldn't think straight. For the first time in my life, all nineteen years of it, I might be away from my dad. I wouldn't be here to take care of him. I might not fucking spend every living moment with my dad here, but I sure as hell spent a lot of time with him. I don't know if I could handle not being under the same roof. He was my only blood, my only family, I couldn't just leave him behind, could I?

"Uh, I work tribe protection down at the Rez. Sort of like a police officer, in a way", Seth replied, his hand finding mine and squeezing it supportively.

I think he could tell I was internally freaking out. Hell, I wouldn't doubt that my face gave it away, either.

"Oh, law enforcement,_ hmm_. And what exactly are your intentions with my daughter?"

I choked on, oh, I don't know, probaby my own spit._ God, what the fuck, dad? Did you really just ask that?_

Seth didn't seem to be phased by the inquiry, or at least he didn't let on that he was.

"I want to be there for her. Help her. Protect her", Seth answered, his voice serious and his eyes directly focused on my father's. Protect me? Where the hell did that come from? What happened to _'really good friends'_...

"Who's room will she be staying in?"_ Again, what the fucking fuck, dad? _

I was pretty sure I was blushing like a maniac by this point. Who knew this was going to be such an embarassing conversation?

Emotional, hell yes, embarassing, hell to the no.

"Well, we have a small guest room, so she can stay in that. She'll have a bathroom to share with Leah, my sister. We'll pay for her food, she won't have rent, and all she'll have to do is humor my mom by helping her bake on occasion, at least until she's on her feet, money-wise."

My dad looked really surprised momentarily, hell, I even was, but my shock didn't deter me from something Seth had just informed me of.

_Fuck, I was sharing a bathroom with the sister from hell! Shoot me, like, now._

"I think you've found a keeper here, Kota, you might wanna tighten that leash you got around this boy", my dad joked, surprising Seth and I, both, by clapping a big whopping, appreciative slap on Seth's shoulder. Seth didn't even wince, even though a loud, audible snap was produced by the contact.

Before I could think about what I was saying, "Leash, dad?" I wondered.

_What in the hell was he implying there?_

"Well, god, Kot, just the way he looks at you, it's like he'd fucking jump off a cliff if you told him to. It doesn't take much brains to see that you two are a lot more serious than, _'really good friends'_."

_Were we really obvious enough that my dad could tell we were past the point of friendship? Oh god, I knew it. Seth's turning me into one of those annoying hopeless romantics that unconsiously sends their lover googly-eyed stares..._

Seth's hand tightened around mine again and I glanced at his face. He was looking at me, a small smile gracing his lips, his eyes staring through me and into my soul. His gaze was too intense, and too lovey-dovey, I had to look away.

"When are you leaving then?" My dad wondered casually, getting up to go throw away his beer can.

"I don't know, I guess whatever works for you" I admitted, looking to Seth for an exact date. I could go whenever, I supposed. I didn't really have anything to wait for.

He grinned broadly at me before answering.

"Tomorrow."

* * *

What'd you think about the Talladaga Nights comment? I put it in there 'cause I seriously am in love with that movie, and I watch every Will Ferrel movie like, religiously. No kidding. Make sure to leave me a review!

Opinions? Suggestions? Comments? Review! :) I respond to as many as possible!


	10. In Which There is Baring Of Souls

Author's Note:

Yes, I know, I'm getting good at this updating often thing. Don't worry, I'm sure it won't last long. Enjoy it while you can. This chapter I guess is sort of a 'filler' in a way, but I actually really like it. It's more sentimental, and I think you get to see the softer side of Dakota. And some more character development on Seth, who of course, we all love. So...enjoy and let me know what you think in a review at the end! :)

Happy Reading!

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This is painful, so I'm going to do it fast, like ripping off a band-aid. I don't own Twilight!

There, uff-da. All better.

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Ch. 10 In Which There is Baring Of Souls

"Rise n' shine! It's moving day!" Seth's very low, baritone voice boomed, efficently waking me up from my very needed slumber. I pulled a pillow over my head, covering my ears, and hopefully blocking out any other noise that Seth would make.

His strong arms yanked the pillow from my grip, and his voice was right in my ear this time, so close that I could feel his hot breath. "Wakey-wakey Dakota."

Of course Seth would be a morning person. Of course fate would link me to someone who is frickin _Wendy Williams_ by the crack of dawn. _Damn it to hell._

"Get the fuck away", I tried to yell, but the mattress combined with my incoherent scratchy morning voice made it sound more like, "Gs-a-ku-aay". I heard Seth laugh under his breath, but he continued to gently shove my shoulder blades. I needed sleep, like no kidding, I _needed_ it. Or else I was a bitch. Well, I guess I was normally always a bitch, but without sleep I was more of an extreme bitch.

"C'mon, we have a lot to do. We have to pack all your stuff, drive to La Push, get you settled in my house, and then bring you down to the clinic to apply." _God this kid obviously didn't get it through his thick head._ _I need sleep._

Suddenly, I heard my father's low chuckling, probably passing my bedroom while walking down the hallway. He knew I wasn't a morning person from personal experience.

"You sure you still like her, son? She's always like this in the morning. I had to pour water on her head in highschool in order for her to get there on time", my dad informed Seth, and I knew he was just having a ball with the whole ordeal. _Motherfucker._

_Like I said, bitchy in the mornings._

"If you really wanna get her up fast, she's really ticklish", my dad told him, a sly tone to his voice.

_He did not just say that. No fucking way. That's one of my biggest damn secrets... Seth wouldn't -_

I felt warm fingers graze my toes, then begin to tickle their way up my calves. I immediately lost control, I couldn't contain the giggles that exploded through me. I was so damn ticklish, it wasn't even funny.

I tore the covers off myself, in the process of rolling over and twitching uncontrollably from all the tickling. I wanted to be so mad when I saw the smug smirk plastered scross Seth's boyish face, but I couldn't form a pout when his hands were all over, sending tickling sensations through my nervous system.

"F-fu-ck y-y-yo-uu", I managed, inbetween fits of laughter. His long fingers were focused on my stomach now, tickling the skin that was exposed from my pajama shirt riding up a little bit. I meakly attempted to swat his giant hands away, but I was shaking too hard to suceed.

Seth didn't say anything in return, just somehow managed to pick me up off the bed, while never ceasing the tickle-fest. I was shaking like a maniac and my stomach was reaching that point of hurting from all the laughter coursing through it.

"Are you up now?" Seth asked, a teasing tone to his voice and a sneaky twinkle in his eye. I tried to catch my breath inbetween giggles.

"If you l-let m-ee down th-then, yeah, I-I'm up", I huffed, trying to get the smile off my face even though it was probably impossible at the moment.

Seth smiled genuinely this time and set me on my feet upright. His hands retracted, and I stopped laughing. I regained the control over my facial muscles, so I shot Seth the stink-eye and pulled my shirt back down over my stomach.

"Your cute when your mad", Seth said, his eyes shying away from mine because of the nasty look I was giving him.

"Well then I probably look like_ Adriana-fucking-Lima_ right now because I am _this_ far", I created a tiny space of air inbetween my thumb and my pointer finger, shoving the hand gesture in front of Seth's face, "from kicking your hairy werewolf _ass_!" I bellowed loudly, except the werewolf bit so my father didn't hear. I knew I probably resembled the bride of Frankenstein with my wild bed hair and lack of makeup but I didn't mind looking like a mess at the moment, as long as I scared the living hell out of Seth.

Seth winced, and opened his mouth to respond but I held up my hand. I was not finished.

"And if you fucking ever try to wake me up at", I glanced at the clock, which read six in the morning, "_Six-fucking o'clock_, I will rip you limb from limb, roast your body parts over a fire, and then feed them to the stray dogs on the street. I do_ not_ fucking wake up at six fucking o'clock, get it,_ lover boy_?" I screamed, my voice probably reaching decibels that could be considered deafening, and stomping my foot over and over again like a five-year-old in a supermarket that didn't get their way.

Seth looked like he was going to fucking faint, and then possibly die.

_Good, serves him right._

"_Get it_?" I questioned again, my tone very sharp and loud. He flinched, but nodded his head vigourously.

"Good. Now get out of my room so I can get dressed. I'll meet you out in the kitchen for breakfast."

Seth didn't answer, but he followed my instructions. He must have gotten up really early, like four-ish, to get to Port Angeles this early in the morning. He had gone home last night, after the conversation with my dad, to inform his mother and sister that I was, in fact, moving in. I worried a little, it was such short notice, but Seth assured me multiple times that they both would understand and be perfectly okay with it. They must have been if Seth was here and ready to move.

I yanked on a pair of yoga pants, and a baggy highschool sweatshirt, knowing moving today would be uncomfortable wearing skinny jeans and a nicer one of my tops. Plus, who knew if it was going to rain, it was Washington, so I'd rather be prepared just in case.

I slumped into the bathroom, went through the usual morning routine, and headed to the kitchen for some breakfast. My dad was already heading out, for work, slipping his thick, ancient leather jacket over his factory uniform by the door. I hurried over to him, passing Seth sitting at the kitchen table, wrapping my freckled arms around his wrinkled neck.

This move was sort of like going away to college, in a way, for me. It would be the first time in my life that I wouldn't be under the same roof as my dad, my only family, and it was unbelievably scary and exciting at the same time.

I buried my face into his shoulder, taking in his natural, leathery whiskey scent, a scent I had grown very accustomed to over the span of my life, and a scent I might not be taking in for awhile. Before I could register what was going on, I felt the salty tears in my mouth, sliding over my lips. I could feel his hand running over my hair soothingly, but I knew this was just as hard for him as it was for me. I was his only kid, and even though he couldn't always give me everything, he would've given me the world if he could have. I was his only family, too.

"Kota, you know you're welcome to visit whenever you feel like it", my dad said, and his voice was shaky and crackly. He was crying, too.

"I know, but I'm just gonna miss you. A lot", I admitted, sniffling and making a small effort to get ahold of myself. I was starting to make a habit out of crying in front of Seth, and that was one of my number one no-no's.

"I'll miss you, too, baby. I have to go, now, it'll be fine. Everything'll be perfectly fine", he stated, almost more talking to himself, rather than me. I nodded my head, and pulled away from the embrace, knowing he would be late for work if I didn't let go soon. His eyes were red and teary, matching mine, I imagined, and he leaned forward to place a single kiss on my forehead, before whispering against my skin, "He's good for you, Kot, he really loves you, I can see it in his eyes. Don't fuck it up."

I couldn't help but smile through the slow tears rolling down from my eyes. Leave it to my father to insert some obscenity into a dramatic moment. That's why I loved him. In most ways, I was exactly like him.

"I love you. Bye", I mumbled, as he opened the door to leave.

He walked down the driveway, opening the door to the driver's side, before turning back to face me. He gave a small smile, "I love you, baby, don't forget it."

He slammed the door then, pulling out. I leaned against the door frame, until the loud rumbling of his broken muffler could no longer be heard in the distance.

I headed back inside, forgetting Seth's prescence as I pulled out a piece of bread and stuffed it in the toaster.

"He really loves you, you're dad." I looked up, and Seth was stirring some soggy cereal with a solemn expression clouding over his normally joyous face. Seth never mentioned a father, maybe he didn't have one...

"I know. I really love him", I stated, not really knowing what to say. I didn't want to upset Seth by asking about his father.

"What happened to your mom?" Seth questioned softly, his brown eyes finally meeting mine instead of gazing into the cereal bowl. They were curious, but very cautious. "Sorry, you don't have to answer if - "

_No, I could talk about her. It wasn't a touchy subject, my mom. It didn't really hurt, as much as it made me mad._

"She and my dad got pregnant with me when they were in highschool. It was their senior year, my dad was captain of the football team, and my mom was head cheerleader. They were the power couple, you know, the one's everyone wanted to be. Top of the food-chain. But when everyone found out she was pregnant, she was no longer popular. People stared, whispered, called her a slut and a whore. My dad didn't get treated very differently, I guess he wasn't the one with the pregnant belly, and I think it made her mad. Anyways, when she had me, things got bumpy. My dad had to give up a full-ride scholarship to University of Michigan because they needed money for me. He started working odd jobs, and my mom stayed home with me. I don't remember her much, because one day, when I was four, she just up and left, after dad went to work, and took all our savings with her. Emptied the bank account, aside from one hundred dollars, and we never heard from her again. My dad raised me alone from then on out. We lived in cars, homeless shelters a few times, and we got this trailer when I was nine. I started working when I was fifteen, and haven't stopped since.

"I used to hate my mom, I even burned all the pictures we had left of her, except one, just because looking at her face made me angry. It was her fault I didn't have a mom on 'Bring your mom to school day'. It was her fault I didn't have the perfect braid on picture day. It was her fault I didn't have a mom rooting in the stands for me and taking pictures like a maniac. I blamed her, for so long. But even worse than that, I look like her._ Exactly_ like her. Red hair, freckles, green eyes. It scared me, at first, but then it made me so mad. I could barely look at myself in the mirror after that, I just reminded myself of my mother too much."

My toast popped up, making us both jump at the noise, and I started smothering peanut butter on it.

"Did you ever forgive her?" Seth asked quietly, stirring around his spoon once again. He was careful about it, though, it never hit the edges of the bowl to make a dinging noise.

_I thought about his question._

"Yeah."

"When?" He asked, looking up into my eyes again with the same curiosity as before.

I smiled. "Just now."

He smiled back, his eyes twinkling. I mustered up some courage for my own question.

"What about your dad?"

His smile slowly faded, and I wondered if this might have been a bad idea. But just as I opened my mouth to apologize, he broke the silence.

"I was really close to my dad. We went fishing, hunting, he even taught me how to skeet shoot. We went camping every summer, as a family, up by Neah Bay. He sucked at cooking, unless he was frying fish. He was famous around town for his fish-fry. Leah, my sister, was close to him, too. They used to go hiking together, on the weekends. My mom and him were so in love. It used to be gross, to see them kiss you know? But, now, I think I would trade anything in the world just to see my mom smile like that, again", Seth said, his voice quiet and somewhat shaky. I didn't want to ask agian, since he never fully answered my question. But something in my face must have told him that I was still wondering what actually happened to his dad.

"He died a couple years ago, a heart attack. He was out in the woods...uh, _hunting_, and by the time his friends found him, he was gone."

_Oh. God. I knew I shouldn't have asked. Here I am, complaining and whining like a fucking brat about how my mom up and left my dad and I. Boohoo, Dakota. And Seth here's dad is dead. Dead. _

"I'm sorry", I whispered, because I couldn't think of anything else. The sadness plainly expressed on Seth's face was making my stomach twist into uncomfortable knots, and I hated it.

"Don't be. It's not your fault. It's no one's."

But the way he said, "no one's" made it sound like it _was_ somebody's fault.

"Well, uh, I guess I'll just finish, and then we can start packing. I don't have too much shit, so it shouldn't take too long", I mumbled, sitting down at the table and biting into my toast. Seth started plowing the soggy cereal into his mouth like it was going to up and run away.

And for the first time in my life, I felt like I was the lucky one.

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Hmm...Dakota's discovering that cute little Sethy has layers. Who'd a thought? ;) Well, leave a review to let me know what you thought of the chapter, and I will reply. Thanks for reading, you guys are literally the best!


	11. In Which There is Undeniable Need

Author's Note:

Here's the chapter that some of you have probably been waiting for, for awhile now. Hint: **Lemon alert** ahead, so those of you uncomfortable with that sort of thing...look away :) Anyways, this is a especially long chapter, since I'm leaving for Washington D.C. on Saturday, and not coming back until the following weekend, so I won't have a chance to update until I get back. I'm sad I have to leave the story, though, but I will get to watch the Fourth of July fireworks over the Lincoln Memorial, so I'm happy about that part. So...without further ado, here's the new chapter. Enjoy! And review to let me know your thoughts.

Happy Reading! :)

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Stephanie Meyer is not my name, Twilight is not my game. I don't own it either...

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Ch. 11 In Which There is Undeniable Need

"Fuck, fuck, fuck a duck, screw a kangaroo, bang, bang an orangutan, at the horny zoo", I sang my favorite lyrics along to the tune of _'Merrily We Roll Along'_, as I carried some more boxes filled with my crap into Seth's house. It was getting pretty hot out, the afternoon sun was beating down on my back, and I had to take my sweatshirt off a little earlier because of the abnormal heat.

"Do you have to swear so much?" Seth asked, rolling his eyes, as he met me halfway to the front door, taking the box from my hands. I have been trying to carry my own shit inside for like, half a fucking hour, but he keeps taking the boxes from me, claiming I could 'mess up my back'. And now he thinks my language is too vulgar. The _balls!_

But, why not play around with the guy a little. Some mental warfare could do our budding relationship some good. Plus, it'd give me something to vent all my frustration on. I was haven't had a cigarette, shoot-up, or orgasm in three whole days, so my anger levels were running a little high. It would do me some good to vent a little out on someone.

"Around you? Yes." I smirked, heading back to the bed of Seth's truck to grab another box.

"I'm gathering that...", Seth mumbled, as he took the box into the house with him. I cackled like a kook after he was inside, letting my mind conjure up more annoyances for Seth. This kid was certainly gonna regret ever inviting me to live with him...

I headed back up to the house, with the last box, labeled 'bedding'. Like usual, Seth met me halfway up the driveway, taking the box out of my hands. I slumped my shoulders back, breathing a sigh of finality.

"This the last one?" Seth questioned, and I nodded my head in confirmation. We headed inside and I was hit with the delicious scent of baking wafting through the air.

I hadn't been inside the house yet today, since Seth stopped me from carrying the boxes before I even got the chance to bring them inside, so I hadn't realized that there was other people home. Actually, I sort of had forgotten entirely that Seth even had a mom or a sister. Scratch that, sister from hell. I had yet to come up with my own nickname for her. You know, what I would call her in my own head. Right now, the options consisted of 'Satan's mistress', 'Sour Puss', and my personal favorite, 'Bitch from Hell'. It was a tough decision...

Seth must have noticed my sudden worry, because he chuckled and nudged my shoulder lightly with his own. _Asshole._

"They won't _bite_, Dakota." _How does he fucking know that?_

I'm pretty sure last time I was face-to-face with his evil sister, she was ready to do more than bite me. She looked like she was ready to tear me to fucking pieces, and then gouge my eyes out to feed them to birds or some dumb lunatic shit like that.

"Go fuck yourself", I muttered back, glaring at him through narrowed eyes. He was so fucking annoying sometimes. Minus the perfectly scuplted muscles, and that sexy eight-pack, and, ooh, the way his right cheek dimples show up when he smiles...

_Fucking get ahold of yourself, woman!_ My inner self screamed at me.

_Yeah, I fucking talk to myself! It's pefectly normal...I was pretty sure at least..._

I was broken out of my confusing internal conversation when I heard an eruption of cackling from the kitchen, presumably a younger woman's voice, so I figured it was the sister from hell. I was actually pretty surprised she was capable of making that sound, considering the only time I'd met her she had been glaring at me like I was about to be her dinner.

"Why don't you go in there, introduce yourself, and I'll meet you there in a second after I put your box away?" Seth encouraged, all joking gone from his voice. I gulped. "Seriously Dakota, don't be scared of them, they won't kill you, I wouldn't let them." He smiled broadly, leaving me in the living room and heading down the hallway humming some random tune. I was now alone.

_Fuck me._

"I'm _not_ scared", I whisper-yelled at him, shooting daggers at his back, hoping that somehow his t-shirt might burst into flames if I stared at it long enough. His light chuckles soon disappeared as he entered a room and disappeared from my sight.

I fucking panicked. I wanted to chew my nails, which were already down to fucking stubs, but I instead I chose to hold a mini pep-rally inside my head. The theme music from the Rocky Balboa movies started playing the background of my mind.

_You can fucking do this, Kota, you're a bitch. You're a stone-cold bitch that can handle anything or anyone. You can tear that motherfucking bitch of a sister to pieces if you ever so desired. I can fucking do this. I can fucking do this. I am fucking Dakota Savannah Harris!_

I shook my wrists a few times, cracked my neck, and started to walk towards the kitchen, breathing deeply in and out. Just before I reached the archway that led to the kitchen where I heard soft voices, large, toned hot arms wrapped around my waist from behind. I melted into them, all previous stress leaving my body. My legs felt all wobbly, like jello.

"You ready to meet them now?" Seth whispered calmly, his hot breath blowing on my ear. _Oh, motherfucking dear lord. I think I would pretty much agree to giving a blow-job to a chipmunk if Seth blew on my ear like that..._

I faintly registered his inquiry and dumbly shook my head up and down in response while my - _down there_...suddenly came to life with Seth's hot breath. _Great...the first time I meet Seth's mother and I'm gonna be fucking turned on. That's attractive._

Seth growled lowly in my ear, and I gasped in shock. _Did he - ? Really? He could - ? No...I doubt it..._

"God, Dakota, you smell so, _so_ good. _Ugh_", he whisper-groaned, accidently brushing his huge hard-on against my ass as he hugged me to himself tighter. We both quietly moaned at the feeling of the amazing contact. "Sorry", he apologized, for accidentally teasing and tempting us both, but the tone of his voice did not suggest he was at all sorry for his actions. _And if I was being honest, fuck, I wasn't either._

_This day was just turning out perfect. You know? First I spend my morning confessing to Seth some of my deepest, darkest secrets, sounding like a damn monologue from a frickin pansy soap opera, then listening to Seth tell me about how his dad's dead, making me feel like the biggest dick ever for feeling so sorry for myself, and now I fucking get my panties drenched right before I am going to meet Seth's sweetheart, homemaker of a mother, and re-meet his bitchy sister. Yes, my day could just not get any better..._

"C'mon, sweetheart, let's go introduce you to my mom", Seth practically purred into my ear, and I wasn't fucking sure if he wanted to ruin my panties. I felt more liquid pool at my core, and the ache there became stronger than ever. I fucking needed, _NEEDED_, a release right away, or I might just explode._ Uh, fu-uck!_

"God, Dakota. _Mmmm_", Seth hummed, releasing his hold on my waist in exchange for holding hands instead. _I know this fucker did not expect me to meet his sweet ol' mother in my current condition. I felt like fucking humping his goddamn leg right now for pete's sake, I was that desperate._

"Seth, I can't - ", I huffed trying to catch my breath, I could already feel my stomach coiling in that oragasmic way, and he hadn't even touched me yet! Fuck! "Not now", I insisted, raising my eyebrows at him trying to get my point across that I was in no fucking condition for meeting his mom.

His eyes glanced at my face, taking in my expression, but then they trailed down my body before stopping at the place where I was now pulsing with wet heat. _Oh god, what's he looking at?_

I cautiously looked down at my thin yoga pants, which sure enough, the crotch of was soaking wet. Through my damn underwear, and through the crotch of the pants! _I fucking looked like I pissed my pants! I was not gonna meet his mother like this! I didn't ever really have a mom around, but I was pretty sure any mom wouldn't really appreciate meeting her son's girlfriend when her pants were soaked with her sex juices!_

I raised my eyes up back to Seth, who was now grinning proudly like a mad-man his eyes drinking me in, staring straight at my soaking wet crotch. I wanted to strangle him, for being so stupidly chauvinistic, but hell, I think if I tried to strangle him, I'd end up humping him instead. _I am so turned on and horny right now..._

"I'm gonna go change quick. I'll be right back", I harshly whispered, snapping him out of his dazed reverie and running down the hall to find the box with my clothes. I quickly found the cardboard box labeled 'clothes' and began digging through it messily, trying to find what I was looking for.

I would change my dripping wet underwear, put on some new fresh jeans, and go out, put on a charming smile, and meet the woman Seth called his mother. Everything would be just fine...

All of a sudden, two thick hands landed on my shoulders, gripping them tightly.

"Are you that wet for _me_, baby?" _Huh? What the hell did he just ask? Good little, virgin-like Seth?_

I whipped my head around to make sure it was in fact Saint Seth. Which it was. _Oh mother of god._

I shot him a 'duh' expression. _Of course he was the reason I was fucking wet! Why else? Did he think I fucking pissed my own pants?_

"Do you wanna take care - , uh, do you need some help with that?" _Again, what happened to Saint Seth? Not that I'm complaining...but, still?_

My core was pulsing hungrily now, his words just increasing the burning liquid that lingered. I was probably halfway to an orgasm and I wasn't even naked yet_. This has never happened before..._

My mind told me no, to decline what he was offering. I was in his house for fuck's sake, with his mother! That would just be...incredibly weird.

_You don't get kinky with your boyfriend's mother and sister baking fucking cookies in the next room over!_ But my body was betraying me, urging me to accept his offer, sending painful aches towards my nether regions, begging me to be fucked senseless.

_And who won this confusing battle? _

_Easy. My nether regions._

"Come here", I panted, my heartrate increasing as I yanked him by the hair towards my mouth, plunging my tongue into it's sweet-tasting depths almost immediately.

_Oh, motherfucker!_

My stomach fluttered as more fluid joined my wetness. Seth groaned into my mouth before kissing me back gently, sweetly, much to chaste for my taste. It wasn't enough, so I pulled his hair harder, trying to get the message through to him, without having to break away from the kiss to verbally tell him. He wrapped his arms around my waist, lifting me up off the ground, from the box I'd been digging through, and shoved the door open with his foot. He crossed the hallway, and then kicked open another door, his room presumably. It smelled like him. He slammed the door shut, pulling one hand away to turn the lock. He laid me down on the bed, pulling away from my mouth for a second, to let me breathe, which I had somehow forgotten I needed to do, and then slamming his lips back down on mine with the intensity I had wanted before. _Ah, fuck!_

My hands wandered all over him, his muscled back, his chiseled chest, his sexy abs. His hands slowly started to roam me, too, making me purr like a hussy. He ran his hands up and down the backs of my skinny thighs, across my flat stomach, along my bony ribs, up to my small, but plump breasts. They were only B-cups, which I wasn't too proud of, but they were really perky, so I guess that made up for their small size.

Then he did the most unexpected thing. He took each of my nipples inbetween his thumb and pointer fingers, rolling them back and forth, the only barrier between them being my thin bra, producing long whimpers and whinny's from the back of my throat. I kissed him harder,rougher, running my tongue along his teeth, tangling it with his tongue. I thought I was about to die of overloading senses. Maybe Saint Seth wasn't exactly as saintly as I had thought...

The aching in between my thighs had grown unbearable, making me writhe under Seth's heated body, wanting much more then Seth's tongue in my mouth and his hands on my breasts. I needed something down there.

"Please, more", I panted, pulling away, breathing harshly, "I need you...inside me", I begged, gripping his t-shirt for some sort of reassurance that I wouldn't just float away.

Seth's hot hands tugged at the bottom of my shirt, his lust-filled eyes asking for another confirmation of permission, and I nodded hurriedly, anxious for the feeling of his dick in my extremely wet pussy again.

He pulled the shirt at lightning speed over my head, revealing my thin, white bra. His eyes darkened, and I was thankful I chose to put on a front-clasp today. Seth's huge fingers easily unclasped the hook, sliding the straps down my arms and pulling it off, letting my tits bounce free. He momentarily seemed distracted by them, staring down at them so intensely that I felt slightly self-concious, but before I tried to cover myself, he reached out for the waistband of my pants. I nodded vigourously again, but my reassurance wasn't really needed a second time as Seth had already began the process of tugging the yoga pants down my freckled legs. I moaned and panted, barely noticing the whines, yelps, and pleas for his dick, that somehow slipped between my lips. Seth finished with my pants, and threw them off to the side, along with my bra.

I finally realized that he was completely dressed still and the word that immediately came to my lust-clouded mind was '_unacceptable_'. So, I started pulling his shirt off, following my lust-clouded mind's directions. He didn't protest, even helped me when I couldn't reach high enough to finish yanking it over his head. He threw it aside and I unzipped his jeans. He pulled them down his long, toned legs, since I couldn't reach with the position we were in. His boxers were sporting a huge bulge, and I knew he was totally tenting a huge boner. _Agh. _

I ran my fingers across his exposed chest, enjoying the feeling of his muscles moving and twitching underneath my fingertips, his russet skin looking tasty as hell. I wonder what they would taste like...

I leaned forward, flicking my tongue out on his chest, looking up at his face to gauge his reaction. His eyes widened at first, but then they darkened even more, almost pitch black now. His pupils were enormous, dialated to almost hide all the brown, and they held something. Almost animalistic, like I was his prey, but yet, at the same time I felt completely safe, not feeling in danger one bit.

He tasted so good, too, just like he smelled. Cinnamon, vanilla, peppermint, musky, earthy, manly, sweet, salty all at the same time. It was incredible, I couldn't get enough. I darted my tongue out over one of his nipples, listening to the long moan emitted when I did. He loved it. So I did it, again and again. Then I switched to the other, gently nibbling this time, using my teeth to pull the nipple. He groaned louder and I felt his hard-on brush against my bare, inner thigh, seemingly larger than before, sending us both into a series of groans at the mere friction. I couldn't wait much longer, it was just too much.

"Dakota, oh god, you're so wet, baby", Seth cooed, stroking my hair with one hand while rubbing my lower back soothingly with the other.

My bundle of nerves jumped at his words, begging me to get his enormous dick into my entrance soon, or I would be punished. I started to pull down at the waistband of Seth's boxers, but his huge hands stopped mine, gripping them tightly.

"Not yet, sweetheart, I want to taste you first." _Oh, fuck my life. For the love of god!_

He smiled sweetly down at me, his lips moving to my neck, his tongue licking up and down, provoking those damn purring noises from my throat again. _Fucking hell, it felt so good..._

Then his mouth moved over my collarbone, sucking so hard I was sure I would have bruises. But I would fucking worry about cutting his balls off for giving me a damn hickey later, right now, I needed his balls.

And just when I thought it couldn't get any better than it had, his lips moved right over my right nipple, pulling it into his mouth, suckling gently. I almost lost it right there, just seeing his lips on that part of me nearly sent me tumbling over the edge. Soon, he added teeth, pulling my nipple and teasing it, scraping his teeth against it, and I swore I might have lost it there. His ministrations contined on my other nipple, teasing, sucking, and scraping it so nicely. I gurgled like a baby, completely at a loss for words.

His lips roamed down, over my stomach, and his tongue swirled around my belly button a few times, making my legs twitch and quiver uncontrollably. _I have to have him in me...now!_

"_FU-UCK_!" I screamed, as I felt his thick finger in my entrance, gently waiting for me to adjust. I grinded helplessly against it, taking pleasure in the small amount of friction it gave me. It wasn't near enough though. He added a second digit, widening me even more. I groaned at the sting of it, but soon I felt myself thrusting my hips forward again, begging for more than just fingers. He was smiling now, that cute dimple of his dotting his cheek, and I was far too gone to care that his mother and his sister could fucking hear him finger-fucking the hell out of me right now. I didn't care if their current first impression of me was a slutty hussy moaning and groaning like she was being fucking plowed. I was in heaven, pure bliss.

He swiftly pulled both digits out of my wet core, and I wanted to protest. He lifted them to his mouth, sticking them and pulling them out slowly, his lips closed around them, making sure he had every last drop of my juices in his mouth. I shuddered. _Ugh, it was so hot! Watching him drink my juices was suck a fucking turn-on!_

He swallowed, his adam's apple bobbing. _Oh fuck! This was some weird kinky shit, but man oh man was it turning me on!_

As he finished swallowing, he placed his hands on the mattress, on either side of my head, his black eyes centering in on me. I gulped.

"Are you ready now, princess?" _Princess? Did he just call me - you know what? Nevermind. I was fucking wet as a waterslide, and I needed Seth's dick inside me. I could handle being called princess._

I nodded my head, overdoing it probably, but making sure I got my point across. He grinned, and I heard the tearing of fabric. A white piece of fabric was thrown carelessly over his shoulder, and my eyes widened in realization that the ripped piece of white fabric had been my underwear. He had shredded my underwear in half! _Holy fucking shit! I hoped this badass Seth came out to play more often!_

He growled softly, looking down at my soaked pussy, before his eyes drifted back up to my face with a smirk of approval. I don't know why, but something inside felt really good, knowing I had his approval. It was weird, but I didn't feel the immediate need to deal with it as I had Seth's sweaty, sexy body over me right now, and I was going to use that to my full advantage. I tugged at his boxer waistband once again, and this time he didn't stop me from sliding them down his toned thighs. Before I knew it, his cock sprung free from the restrainment of the shorts, and practically slapped me in the face it was so fucking big! _Holy mother bejeezus! He was the size of the damn eiffel tower!_

I gaped at that thing for a good minute or two, wondering how that monster had ever fucking fit inside me! _Fucking christ, no wonder I was so goddamn sore that morning, he could rival an elephant's with that thing!_

"That's...uh...um...are you sure...that'll...you think...that's not gonna fit", I stuttered awkwardly, nervous butterflies joining the coiling feeling in my stomach. I was totally turned-on and horny, but at the same time, deathly afraid of that thing coming anywhere near my entrance.

Then he did another unexpected thing. He bursted out laughing. I felt the urge to punch him. This wasn't funny. I was serious. I waited until his laughter died down, staring intently at his face with an irritated expression.

His smile faded, and then he looked puzzled.

"You're serious." It wasn't a question, more like a statement.

I nodded. "Look, baby, it fit before. Just trust me, it'll fit. I'll go slowly, and you tell me if it hurts, and I'll pull out."

I contemplated the thought of his proposal. It sounded decent, I mean, if he went slow, and if it hurt, he would pull out. And he had a good point, it did fit before, I had just been drunk, so I didn't freak out like I was doing now.

"Okay", I agreed, and he caressed my head, his thumb brushing over my cheek with a feather-light touch.

"Just tell me if it hurts", he added again, and I felt his hard member aligning against my hot, wet opening. I did want him so bad. _So, so bad._

He gave me one more small smile, his dimple peeking out again, and melting me all over. I closed my eyes as his cockhead slid into my slick hole. He was so hot, and I felt suddenly full. But he wasn't all the way in, I realized when he started pressing farther in, widening my opening slowly. It stung, but I didn't stop him. It was a good kind of hurt, the kind you wanted to feel. I heard myself moaning and groaning, and I felt Seth's low growls vibrating his chest, that was pressed up against my stomach. Seth lowered his head, nuzzling his face inbetween my tits, his tongue running over the nipples and teasing me with his teeth as his dick gradually crept deeper and deeper inside of my core. It continued to sting, but I didn't complain.

"Oh, baby, you're so slick, so wet. All for me. Ugh", Seth grunted, coiling my stomach tighter and tighter. I was so close to release, I could feel it.

"Fuck, agh, Seth, go, farther, all - the - way", I begged, dragging my nails roughly across his chest and neck. He didn't even hesitate, and my breath caught as he rammed his cock into me all the way, slamming against my inner walls with a painful, but amazing force. The noise of our sweaty bodies slapping together echoed through the small room. Seth let out a long, low, baritone groan, and I let out a hig-pitched whine. My opening adjusted quickly, and I wanted more. I wanted to move.

"Go - faster. Harder", I whined, waiting for him to bring me to my breaking point.

"You okay, sweetheart? You aren't hurting?" He asked, softly, his eyes black, twirling a loose strand of wavy hair from my wild, red mane.

"I'm good", I lied, but it didn't count as a lie technically because it was a good kind of hurt, the kind I wanted to feel.

He started moving in and out of me, not very fast but gradually increasing his speed, until I was gasping for air, feeling utterly like a fish out of water, but at the same time, feeling like the best I ever had in my life. He was ramming into me now, low grunts falling from his lips with each rapid thrust. I was clutching unto Seth's muscular shoulders, like I was clinging on for dear life.

I felt myself fall of the cliff, my legs locking and twitching, and I felt like this was going to be the strongest orgasm I might have ever had. Seth sensed my orgasm, and he pumped longer and rougher, trying to prolong my orgasm to a unheard of length. I screamed. I clawed at his back, probably drawing blood. I fell, clenching tightly around his dick.

I slumped my shoulders as my involuntary quivering stopped, and my intense orgasm ended. I melted into the mattress, feeling the complete state of orgasmic bliss overtake me. _Sweet mother of god, this man was far from sainthood!_

"That's it, baby girl, go to sleep now. Rest. Shh", Seth's low voice cooed, as he brushed his callused fingertips against my forehead, swiping some sweaty strands away from my eyes. I felt my eyelids closing, my mind slipping into unconciousness. That last thing I remember thinking was, _Fuck, I'm tired_. So I slept.

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Pretty long, huh? I felt liked I owed you it since I am going to be gone for a week. Review, please and thank-you! :)


	12. In Which There is Applying

**Author's Note: **

**I'm back from my vacation! Yay, I know! I had tons of fun on my trip. I got to see all the monuments, memorials, Gettysburg, Mount Vernon, the Holocaust Museum, the White House, the Museum of Natural History, And the Fourth Of July Fireworks. Highlight of my life! Anyways, here's the latest update from Dakota and Seth's world, and I hope you enjoy it. And remember to review so that I have more motivation to update sooner. :) And do you like the bold lettering for author's notes? Let me know!**

**Happy Reading!**

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Ch. 12 In Which There is Applying

I opened my eyes to a unfamiliar ceiling. I almost freaked out and screamed, but then I remembered where I was. My new 'house', if that's what I could call it. I didn't want to call it home, since it really wasn't my home, nor would it ever be my home, so the term 'house' seemed like a better idea.

I lifted off whatever was covering me, it looked like a series of homeade quilts, and sat up to stretch my arms and yawn. I was in the guest room, or the room I had put all my stuff in as of yesterday. I hadn't gotten the chance to look around in it much yet, so that seemed like a good plan since I appeared to be alone. I gingerly stood up, found a change of clothes from my suitcase, and started snooping around. The room had some ugly ass wallpaper, deer antlers and bear claw prints, but hey, I wasn't one to complain.

There was a few wooden picture frames hanging on the walls. Photos of a young Seth, with a huge fish hanging from his hand, and a picture of a toothless Leah smiling in the orange glow of a fire. Lastly, there was a sepia photo of a young man and woman, one in a suit, the other in a lacy white dress. It was a wedding photo, clearly, and I knew it was probably Seth's parents. They looked so happy, as cliche as it sounds, but really. The way they were looking at each other reminded me nothing of how my own parents looked at each other. I was only four when my mother left, but in the photos left of my parents there was obviously no love in their eyes.

I moved on, admiring the minimal furniture filling the room. There was a small wooden dresser, simple with no designs, and a matching nightstand next to the bed which I had just woken up on. It was a queen-sized bed, a large improvment from my previous one. A simple wrought-iron lamp adorned the top of the nightstand, and a small digital alarm clock that read 10:23 am sat next to the lamp. Other than those few furnishings, the room was empty. I peered out the only window in the room, which gave a view of the woods surrounding the outside of the house.

Suddenly, I gasped, my heartrate increasing rapidly, as I felt warm hands on top of my shoulders.

"Goodmorning", Seth's deep voice whispered, his hot breath tickling my ear.

"You scared the fuck out of me, you ass!" I accused, turning around to face him and bang my fists on his chest, which of course, had no effect on him. Fucker.

"I'm sorry", he apologized, an amused smirk still dawning on his handsome face.

"Somehow I don't believe that", I mumbled, moving around his massive form to sit on the end of the un-made bed.

Seth sighed, the smirk fading as he walked over to sit next to me. I noticed he was wearing plaid pajama pants, a tight gray t-shirt, and his black, short hair was mussed. His bed hair was sexy. I tried to wipe that thought from my mind, though. It was distracting...

"You're staring." He grinned, and I felt my face redden as a result. _God, I really need to gouge my eyes out._

"Like you don't", I challenged back.

"Touche."

There was a small silence, oddly it was comfortable. It still was a mystery to me as to how I could feel so comfortable around someone who I'd known for less than a week, but with Seth, I did.

"So...what's on the agenda for today?" I wondered, wiping some sleep from my eyes.

"Well, since you didn't get a chance to yesterday, you need to go apply at the clinic. And then, hopefully you can meet my mom. She almost decapitated me because she didn't get to meet you yesterday. And on top of that, Leah told her that we were, um..."

"Fucking?" I supplied with a small sliver of hope that he would say no. Instead, he nodded, and I groaned. _Great first impression to make on Seth's mommy dearest. She's heard my gutteral sex moaning before we even met. Dakota, Dakota, always the charmer._

"Don't worry, it's not as bad as it sounds. She wasn't even mad. Well, she was mad at me, but that's not the point. The point is, she's really excited to meet you, and she was angry that I...distracted you."

_Thanks, Seth, that made the whole situation so much better. Fuck._

"Great", I mumbled sarcastically, wringing my wrists.

"Really, Dakota, don't worry about it. She's so excited you're here."

I decided to change the subject. "What's for breakfast?" I questioned, my stomach rumbling right on cue.

"Cereal, toast, whatever you want", Seth answered, rising from the bed and heading down the hallway. I followed him, carefully watching for the sister from hell to make her morning debut. Seth must have noticed my not-so-discreet glances. "She's not here, if that's what your looking for. She's patrolling right now."

_Oh. Well, good to know._

* * *

"Trust me, I can do some real shit with a sledge hammer."

Seth had brought me down to the clinic after we finished a hearty breakfast of Fruit Loops, and currently I was filling out the application for the secretary job. Seth was writing down my answers because apparently my handwriting wasn't very legible. Bullshit, if you ask me, but Seth said he wasn't going to take any chances of me not getting the job.

"Dakota, I'm pretty sure that's not what they mean when they say, 'List some of your useful talents'. I think they mean stuff like being a people person, or being very neat", Seth explained, scribbling down the answers that he thought would make me look good. Apparently, that's why Seth had the pen. I guess honesty wasn't the best policy in this situation.

"Seth, if I lie about this stuff, they'll fire me right away", I countered loudly, eliciting a 'look' from the secretary that was retiring, the one that I would probably replace, at least by the way Seth was answering the questions.

Don't get me wrong, I did want to get the job, honestly, but I guess I was one of those no-bullshitting kind of people. I may have made a few white lies in my life, but I never lied when things were serious. I suppose you could say I was a firm believer in karma. So the application for this job was no exception. Come to think of it...maybe that's why I had such a difficult time getting jobs. I told the truth on applications...

"C'mon Dakota, they won't fire you. All you have to do is answer the phone, write down notes, and check people in and out. It won't be that hard. You'll probably even get bored", Seth reasoned, in a softer voice.

"Okay...but if karma comes back to bite you in the ass, I won't take any of the blame for it." Seth chose not to reply, moving on to the next portion of questions instead.

"Do you have any allergies or take any medications for health conditions?" I shook my head no.

"Are you or do you ever plan to be pregnant?" _What the fuck? _Seth looked a little curious to know my answer on this particular question, too, which made my stomach turn even more. _Double, what the fuck?_

"Uh - no", I replied, my throat dry and crackly. Seth's face fell, almost in dissapointment. I refused to read into it, though, he couldn't possibly think that -

"Really? You don't want kids? Ever?" He questioned again, his tone almost incredulous. _Fuck._

"Yup", I confirmed, hoping he would just drop the subject and move on. But no, in true Seth fashion, he needed a reason. _Great._

"Why?" _The magic word. Why was the sky blue? Why did cats have nine lives? Why are bananas yellow?_

"I just don't want kids", I muttered through clenched teeth, avoiding Seth's prying eyes.

"Are you sure? Not even _one_?" He wondered, his brown eyes prodding and pleading, as if my answer determined whether he'd live or die. _This was so fucking messed up._

"I am 100% abso-fucking-lutely sure", I seethed, ready to be done with this and leave. Seth seemed to catch my drift and finally moved onto the next question, but there was still some dissapointment lurking in his eyes and voice.

"What race are you?"

"Caucasian."

"How long do you plan on having this job?"

"A long fucking time", I knew Seth wouldn't actually put my exact words on the application, so I trusted him to edit my answer.

"Can you type?"

"I can learn."

"You know how to work phones?"

"For the most part."

"You don't mind paperwork?"

"I mind any _work_. Will I deal with it, though? Yeah."

"Do the work hours of 9am to 5pm work for you, aside from federal holidays and ten allotted sick days each year?"

"Uh-huh."

"Do you live A) alone, B) with family, or C) with spouse or girlfriend/boyfriend?"

_Awkward._

"Do you want to just put down B?" Seth asked quietly, with an underlying sense of hope disguising itself in his tone. I was pretty sure he hoped I would tell him to put C down.

"Uh - sure. That'll work."_ For now_, I added mentally.

* * *

Seth and I spent the rest of the afternoon touring around La Push. I had only been in the area for high school parties before, so I hadn't realized what a pretty place it truly was. The beach had been gorgeous, and I mentally made a note that if I ever needed to think and have some alone time, it would be the perfect place to go. Seth also brought me down to the general store, where I met a few locals. Quil Ateara Senior, who was an old man with a sarcastic sense of humor to match my own. That's probably why I liked the guy. He swore like a sailor, too, so that didn't hurt my opinion of him either. I also met a man named Billy Black, who was the unofficial chief of the tribe. He was a respectable man, very professional, but he was confined to a wheelchair, after a car accident, he explained. Seth talked to both of them for awhile as I wandered around the store a bit.

There was tons of fishing supplies, hiking gear, some maps, a few tourism keychains, and a small selection of food and other grocery items. It wasn't much, but I guess in a town this small, you didn't need much. Seth and I bought the ingredients for both our favorite meal, spaghetti.

When we got back to Seth's house, we spent an hour or so preparing it, so that his mom didn't have to cook when she got back from work at five. I asked Seth where Leah was all day and he said she probably decided to hang out with some friends or take a hike in the woods.

He told me she took hikes a lot these days, ever since their father died. He also mentioned something about how her longtime boyfriend broke up with her a little while before their dad died, and he said that the break-up had hit her pretty hard, too. I actually felt some sympathy for the bitter bitch, but it didn't last long. She came back right before the spaghetti was done.

"Hey, Leah", Seth had greeted cheerfully when she had stormed into the kitchen earlier this afternoon, from the back door. She was drenched in mud, and only wearing a tank top and cargo shorts, which seemed like a stupid idea considering it was only about forty five degrees outside.

She ignored Seth and stomped straight towards the bathroom, slamming the door so hard I thought it cracked, and then the sound of the shower came on.

Seth didn't seemed at all surprised by her strange attitude, and went back to stirring the sauce into the noodles, humming some tune that I didn't recognize._ Did he not just see her?_

"Is she always like that?" I wondered quietly, licking some stray sauce from my fingertips.

"Who? Leah?" Seth asked.

"No dumbass, Oprah. Yeah, Leah."

"I'm afraid so. I guess you sort of get used to it after awhile. She's the worst right after...work", he sighed, heading over to the sink to wash off the mixing spoon.

"Why work?" I inquired, checking the garlic toast in the oven. It still had a good fifteen minutes or so.

"Well, one of her...co-worker's is her ex-boyfriend." _That might make me a sour bitch, too, but..._

"Why doesn't she just quit, then?"

Seth seemed a little reluctant to answer, but he finally opened his mouth. "It's, uh, sort of complicated."

_O-kay._ That's a little sketchy...

"Do you wanna watch some TV until the garlic bread's done?" Seth interrupted my thoughts, nodding his head towards the television in the living room. I nodded, wiped my greasy hands on a dish towel and followed him to the sofa.

* * *

"Oh my gosh, Seth, you really have a keeper here. She's a great cook, she's cute as a button, and she keeps you in line!" Sue, Seth's mother bellowed, smiling widely between me and Seth. I had just slapped Seth's hand away from my plate after he tried to steal my piece of garlic bread. Apparently, Sue liked that.

Sue was a nice woman. She was kind. Thoughtful. Caring. Motherly. Everything that I had been missing my whole life. So, I think that was one of the reasons I couldn't stand her. I had spent a good part of my life wishing I had a mom exactly like Sue, someone to hug me and tell me everything was alright, so I think in the deep bottom of my heart, I was jealous. Seth and Leah had one of the best mothers in the world, no doubt, and I got a woman who cared about me enough to leave me when I was four and take all the money with her. Some parent.

Sitting here at the dinner table with Seth by my side, eating everything in sight, Leah across from me with her head facing her plate and not speaking a word, and then Sue sitting diagonal from me, her bubbly personality suffocating me from across the room.

"So, Dakota, or do you liked to be called Kota or Koty?"

"Dakota's fine", I muttered, stabbing a meatball viciously with my fork.

"So _Dakota_, Seth tells me you're very close with your dad. Is that right?" She asked conversationally, her brown eyes glowing with warmness. I squeezed the fork tightly in my fingers, turning the tan skin of my knuckles white. _What right did she have to pry into my private life? None. Absolutely none._

"You could say that", I replied quietly, not looking her in the eye.

"Well, that's good. You should tell him that he's welcome here any time", she informed me, her tone happy and sickly sweet. I held back a gag as I took a long swig of water.

"I'll be sure to let him know."

"Good, good." She smiled, taking a dainty bite of a meatball. Seth shot me a worried glance, probably catching on to my uncomfortableness but I gave him a small smile and shook my head, giving him the impression it was nothing. It really wasn't his fault I couldn't stand his mother. It actually really wasn't his mother's fault either. She was nice, polite, and she hadn't done anything to offend me.

When I had first met Sue, my heart was pounding and I was nervous as hell. But after he first words, _'Oh, Seth, she's perfect'_, I don't really know why, but I depised her. I couldn't help but think that in her mind, I was probably just some pretty girl that could be her daughter-in-law and bare her grandchildren some day. _Ugh._

So, I endured the rest of the unpleasant dinner, and excused myself to my new room. Where I preceded to fall asleep.

Alone.

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**Review please and thank you! I will love you forever and ever. **

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	13. In Which There is Misunderstandings

**Author's Note:**

**Hey guys, new chapter! Hope you all enjoy, this is probably one of my favorite chapters...and I'm guessing you'll see why. I expect a lot of reviews on this one...just kidding. But please, review! I love reading them, even if they are just to say hi. Just a head's up, I'm going to be gone for a week because I'm off to Florida! I will update as soon as I get back! Okay, well enjoy this lovely chapter, full of interesting things, and make sure you leave a review to let me know what you thought of it. **

**Happy Reading!**

* * *

**I don't own Twilight, but if I did, I would still probably be writing fanficition. It's so addicting...**

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Ch. 13 In Which There is Misunderstandings

"Dakota, dear, would you like to help me with dinner?" Sue inquired, smiling that sickly sweet smile at me again. Seth nodded at me encouragingly. He and I were sitting on the sofa, watching a Pirates of the Carribean marathon on FOX.

"Uh...yeah. Sure." _Shoot me now._

"Great!" She bustled into the kitchen and I reluctantly followed behind her, shooting Seth a 'I can't do this' look. He shrugged and mouthed, 'you'll be fine'.

_Yeah, right. It was _his_ mom_.

"Do you want to shape the rolls or chop the vegtables for the salad?" She asked, pointing to the food on the counter.

"I can shape the rolls", I decided. _That would be easy. And I wouldn't have the factor of a knife adding to the equation. I didn't need a knife in my hand right now._

I began my job of rounding the roll dough into little balls and sticking them on the metal tray. It was a fairly simple job, which was another reason I picked it. I thought everything was going good until Sue started talking.

"So...do you like La Push?" Sue wondered, chopping some carrots into tiny pieces.

"It's alright. Very scenic", I answered, trying to use as little words as possible.

"Yes, it is. What about your dad? Do you miss him?" She questioned, her voice dropping a little in decibels.

I clenched my jaw, trying not to flatten the piece of dough I was holding. "Yeah. I miss him."

"You know he's always welcome here", she told me, glancing up briefly to offer me a small smile.

"I know."

I finished my job with the rolls and wiped my hands off on a dish towel.

"I'm done with the rolls", I informed her. She turned around and smiled.

"Thank you. You can go back to Seth and I'll call you two when dinner's ready."

I nodded, gave her a forced smile for good measure, and headed back to Seth, crawling into his warm lap.

"See, not so bad, right?" He asked, kissing the top of my head.

"Sure", I mumbled, letting my head fall back to rest on his chest as I watched Captain Jack Sparrow converse with Blackbeard.

* * *

I tried to be as quiet as possible as I tiptoed down the Clearwater's hallway. It was about two thirty in the morning, and I had found this was the prime time in the house to make what I liked to call my 'alcohol runs'. After going a whole entire week here in La Push without an ounce of alcohol in my system, I needed a drink. And since I can't legally buy my own alcohol at a store since I'm underaged, I ended up here in the Clearwater's kitchen a few nights ago, at about 2AM, chugging a bottle of tequila that I could never imagine Sue Clearwater drinking. And so this little middle of the night rendevous has become a daily habit of mine ever since. And so far...it's gone undetected.

Once I was in the kitchen, I stood on my tiptoes to reach the top shelf above the refridgerator where the alchohol was hidden. My fingers just touched the base of the bottle, when the kitchen lights flipped on. I jumped a good foot in the air out of surprise, effectively falling straight to the ground and landing with a unpleasant 'thump' on my ass. I looked up to see the culprit. It was the she-devil! And she looked just as shocked as I imagined I looked.

"What are_ you_ doing here?" Leah whispered harshly, her signature scowl finally replacing the surprised expression.

I was already caught red-handed, why lie now? "Getting a drink."

She narrowed her eyes for a second, but shocked the hell out of me with her words. "I'll have one, too."

_What? Did she just say what I think she said? Was the sister-from-hell actually being civil to me?_

"Um, okay." I stood up, dusting off my ass, and took down the tequila. Leah had grabbed two glasses out of the cupboards, and I poured a little in each. She shot me a exasperated glance before filling her glass up almost to the top. _She must have a bad day..._

"So, how long have you been mooching off our tequila?" Leah casually asked, her tone still a whisper. She took a small swig from the glass.

"A couple days now", I replied in the same casual tone, sipping on my own glass. Leah nodded her head for a moment, before throwing it back chugging the whole glass in one swallow. _HOLY SHIT!_

"How the _fuck_ did you just do that?" I asked, forgetting I needed to whisper. I covered my mouth afterwards, before I could accidentally blurt out something else. Leah just shook her head at me, mumbling ''Amatuer'' under her breath.

"I had a really fucking bad day", she answered, rolling her eyes at my stupidity. "Why are _you_ out here?"

"I need a drink every day", I replied, watching as Leah filled her glass again. _How much was she fucking gonna drink?_

"Seth would hate to know you drink", Leah mumbled, leaning on the counter and running a hand through her short silky hair.

"What he doesn't know won't hurt him."

Leah smiled. "I like your thinking."

I grinned and took another sip of my lovely drink. "Me too. So, what happened that made you want to be drunk this much?" I wondered, giving her a curious gaze.

"My ex, Sam. I work with him. He's getting married to my cousin. And they asked me to be the Maid of Honor."

_Ouch._ Damn, that's got to be painful. What a jackass! I mean, Leah was sort of a bitch, but I guess I would be too if my ex dumped me for my cousin.

"So, what'd you say?" I would have probably ripped them both a new asshole.

"Yes." _Huh? She said "yes"?_

"Why?" I questioned, gauging her surprisingly calm facial expression.

"I don't know." _Wow. Leah might be a crazy bitch, but I had to give it to her, she was strong._

"When's the wedding?"

"September twenty-first." _Only a month away. I wonder if I'd have to go. Seth'll probably ask me..._

"Can I ask you something?" I wondered, watching as Leah drank a long swig. I have to say, I have a lot of respect for her now, knowing all the shit she deals with everyday.

"Shoot."

"Why are you always so bitchy to everyone?" I asked, really fast, closing my eyes in case she decided to smack me. I waited, but nothing came, so I opened them again to meet Leah's amused eyes.

"I'm glad Seth has you", she said, smiling widely. She was really pretty. Not that I swung that way, but she had the most amazing face. High cheekbones, bright white teeth, full lips, wide brown eyes, a strong jawline, I don't why that Sam guy would ever dump her. She could be a frickin supermodel.

"What?"

"I'm glad you're with Seth. He needs someone to toughen him up a bit. He's too much of a pansy", she chuckled softly.

I wanted to say, 'He's not a pansy in bed', but decided that might be a little crude, considering this was his sister I was talking to. So I settled for simply shrugging my shoulders.

"You never answered my question", I pointed out. She smiled.

"I act bitchy because I am a bitch", she declared, as if that made complete sense. Maybe all that tequila was finally getting to her...

"But why do you go out of your way to avoid everyone?" I inquired, taking another swig from my glass.

"I don't have anything to say to them. All my mom wants to talk about is that I 'need to move on from Sam' and that she 'needs grandchildren'." She rolled her eyes. I was with her on that one. "All Seth wants to talk about is you."

_Seth talks about me to Leah...weird. I wonder if he talks about me to everyone..._

"I'm sorry Leah", I apologized, seeing how wrong I had been for marking off Leah as a stuck-up she-devil. She wasn't evil at all. Just a little misunderstood.

"Why are _you_ sorry?" She incredulously questioned.

"I shouldn't have judged you", I admitted, sheepishly avoiding her eyes, and running my finger along the rim of my glass.

"Don't worry. I judged you, too", she confessed, smiling. _The bitch! Wait, let me rephrase that, the misunderstood bitch!_

"What'd you judge me as?" I wondered curiously.

"A stuck-up bitch." _Hey, that hurt. _"What'd you judge me as?"

"A stuck-up bitch." We both grinned.

"I guess we have more in common than I thought", Leah giggled, and I agreed.

"Yeah."

"Can I ask _you_ a question?" She finally wondered, staring at me with cautious eyes.

"Shoot", I grinned, mimicking her word from earlier, she smiled briefly, before changing her demeanor to a more serious one.

"What happened to your mom?" She inquired slowly. _Ahh, the almighty question._

"She left", I answered simply, taking a long swig of tequila. "I was four. She emptied our bank account, and left my dad and I on the streets. I haven't seen her since." I felt tears sting my eyes, but this time I didn't try to hold them back as I felt them slide down my freckled cheeks.

"I'm really sorry", she apologized, looking genuine.

"For what?" I teasingly pondered, trying to smile, even though it probably turned out more as a grimace.

Leah didn't answer, but instead hugged me. She wrapped her toned arms around my body, and I let my head fall to her shoulder as I cried silently, letting the tears slip out. Leah rubbed my back, but didn't say anything, which was just what I needed.

After a couple of minutes of pure crying and wallowing, I pulled away, wiping the lingering tears from my cheeks.

"You feel better?" Leah asked softly. I nodded, sniffling. "Good, 'cause you ruined my shirt."

We both laughed.

"But really, you're gonna buy me a new one."

We laughed even more, quietly of course. I grabbed my glass of tequila and downed the last bit of it. Who'd a thought I'd be sitting here in the Clearwater's kitchen at two thirty in the morning with the Leah, of all people? This was downright bizzare.

"So...does this mean we're friends?" I questioned slowly, gauging her smug expression.

"I suppose it does", she sighed.

"So, do we have to talk to each other in public now?" I asked, thinking about the shocked looks we'd surely get from Seth and Sue if we did.

"Not a fucking chance", Leah answered, a wide grin on her face. I grinned back.

"Thank God. Well, g'night", I said, washing my glass and putting it back in the cupboard. Leah did the same.

"Sleep tight", she hummed.

I tiptoed back down the hallway to the guest room, or 'my' room so-to-speak. I heard a loud 'NUGNNGH' snore come from Seth's room, and I almost let out a loud chuckle right there, but I somehow managed to hold it in until I was in the guest room and under the covers.

Maybe living with the Clearwaters wasn't gonna be _so_ bad.

* * *

"Seth, seriously, what is such a big deal that you can't let me sleep in?" I inquired, yawning as I pulled the comforter farther over my head.

"You got the job! The secretary job! My mom just called from the clinic and she said to tell you that you got it! You got the job!" Seth yelled, jumping up and down so much that the bed was rocking. _I don't think I'd ever get used to how giant he is._

"Seth, that's great. Now let me sleep." I was so tired from my late night conversation with Leah. I smiled at the thought of it. I had my first La Push friend. Other than Seth.

"Aren't you happy?" Seth questioned, and I could hear the dissapointment seeping through his voice.

Of course I was happy I got the job. I needed the job. But I also needed sleep.

"Yeah, but I'm really tired. So fuck off." Then I thought to add after a second, "Please."

I heard him sigh and shuffle his feet as he left the room. My heart ached painfully. Why does that always happen when I know Seth's sad. It's not like I was that attached to him yet. We had only known each other for a week and a half or so. We weren't even dating yet.

After spending a good five minutes attempting to get rid of the bitter feeling brought on by Seth's sadness, I reluctantly tore myself away from the warmth of the bed, realizing I wouldn't be able to fall asleep anymore. _Man, those were the days when I didn't have a damn conscience to contend with._

When I walked out of the room my eyes immediately found Seth, who was sitting on the living room couch, watching the Ellen Degenres show. I always liked that woman, I don't know why, but she always was so forward with her gayness. That and she could make a cactus laugh.

"I'm up", I mumbled, entering the room while Seth laughed out loud at one of her jokes. I took the box of cereal-Cocoa Puffs-that was sitting on the counter, and poured myself a bowl. I ate slowly, pausing to laugh when one of Ellen's jokes was funny. It was kind of creepy though, Seth and I both laughed at the same jokes, but didn't laugh at the same ones, too. We had the exact same sense of humor. _Creepy..._

"So, what're you up to today?" I wondered as the show's ending credits came on and Seth got a glass of orange juice from the refridgerator.

"I'm taking you out to celebrate", he exclaimed, smiling widely at me, a proud look glimmering in his eyes.

"Celebrating is stupid."

"No, it's not. You deserve it", he defended, looking hurt that I bashed celebrations. _Pft. Pansy._

"I never had a birthday party and I turned out fine", I admitted. His eyes widened.

"You never had a_ birthday_? That's _RIDICULOUS_! How could you never have a birthday? You were deprived a birthday party? You know what, we're throwing you a birthday party this year, and one every year for the rest of your life", Seth decided, crossing his arms in satisfaction with his determination.

I rolled my eyes.

"Not everyone grew up with a loving mother, Seth", I said dryly. Seth's eyes widened.

"You know I didn't mean it like that, Dakota", he whispered, trying to wrap his arms around me, but I shoved them away.

"Are you sure you didn't? 'Cause it sure sounded like it", I muttered, storming towards the front door, planning to go anywhere but here.

"Wait, Dakota, just listen, please, I just meant that- that your...", he stuttered, obviously at a loss for words. I ignored his attempts, and headed at full speed towards the door. His hands gripped my forearms about two feet away, and I stopped, but didn't turn around to face him, knowing I wouldn't be able to leave if I looked him in the eyes. "Please, Dakota, I didn't mean it", he pleaded, the sound of his voice tearing a hole in my heart.

I was so close to caving, but somehow I found the strength inside and was able to shake off his arm. He didn't try to restrain me again, and I slammed the door behind me on my out. I jogged down the front path, and started walking down the unfamiliar road. I didn't know where I was going, but I was going. Away from Seth.

I knew what he had meant. And I knew that he would never hurt me intentionally. He was too kind of a person.

But that didn't change the fact of the matter.

He did hurt me.

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**Don't forget to review and let me know what you thought of this chapter! :)**

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	14. In Which There is Progress

**Author's Note:**

**Hey guys, I'm sorry I haven't updated in awhile, I just got back from Florida a day or so ago, and have been nursing a nasty sunburn. But...the trip was amazing, and totally worth the burn. Anyways, here's the latest update, I hope you enjoy it, and don't forget to review! I love to read them, and I respond to as many as I can. And...if you haven't yet, check out my new blog...the link to it's on my profile!**

**Happy Reading!**

* * *

**I don't own Twilight. Yet.**

* * *

Ch. 14 In Which There is Progress

It had been an entire week since I had walked out on Seth. I had been lucky that my shithole of a car cooperated that day and allowed me to get all the way to Port Angeles without an issue. I didn't conciously decide that day to go to Port, but I just happened to drive there. I didn't however, go to my dad's house.

I had just moved out of the trailer two fucking weeks ago. I couldn't just barge in, bawling my eyes out, and acting like a damn baby that can't seem to grow up. I couldn't let him know that I was incapable of taking care of myself. So, with nowhere else to go, I ended up living in my car, on the side of North Laurel Street. I ate all my meals at a hole-in-the-wall diner, located about a block away from my parking spot. I spent my days wandering the boardwalk, or digging through alley dumpsters, at least until I ran out of the fifty bucks that had been in my wallet when I left La Push.

After that, I spent my days outside, on the sidewalk, with a piece of cardboard found in a dumpster, that had _'Running low on luck, care to help_?' written in my messy scrawl on it. Then I put one of my dad's old Mariner's caps that I'd found on the floor of my car on the ground in front of me, upside down. At first, I didn't get too much money, but after I flipped the sign over and wrote _'Donations for Orphans'_ on it, the cash started flowing. But still, after a full day of sitting on the concrete, my earnings barely allotted me a decent fast-food meal. I was already getting thinner, if I wasn't thin enough before, and logically I knew I wouldn't last much longer living like this. But I wasn't one to follow logic.

"Hello sweetie, what can I getcha today?" The plump, female waitress asked, her round face smiling widely at me. She had been the same waitress to serve me over the last week or so. She had ginger-red hair, like me, but her skin was very pale rather than tan. She had green eyes, as well, but hers were darker, more of a shade of jade. She also never failed to have a bright, shiny smile on her heart-shaped face. She appeared to be in her late-forties, maybe early fifties.

I glanced back down at the paper menu I had grown accustomed to over the week. It had been the menu I had chosen all my food from. My eyes found the usual meal I picked, the cheapest one.

"I'll have a number three, with a glass of water, please", I said. I also always ordered the water for a beverage, since it was free.

She smiled down at me, nodded her head, and spun around to go take an elderly couple sitting a few booths away from mines order. I folded the menu neatly and put it back into the condiment tray sitting in the middle of the table. I slumped my shoulders, and let my head fall to my forearms, closing my eyes. It had been another long day on the street, pining for the small amount of money sitting in my pocket right now, that would barely cover the meal I just ordered.

My thoughts drifted to Seth, much like they always did it seemed like, since I left a week ago. _What was he doing right now? Did he miss me? Did he even care that I left? Would I ever see him again?_ The questions were relentless, seemingly never-ending, and it was like even though they weren't always the center of my attention, they were constantly nagging at me from the back of my mind. It was like I had been dealing with the strongest headache I've ever had.

"Here you are, dear", the waitress, Frances, her name-tag read, said as she set down the small burger meal, minus the one dollar add-on of fries, and a tall glass of ice-cold water. I sighed, the greasy smell of the burger teasing my impatient, rumbling stomach. "Can I get you anything else, sweetheart?"

"No thanks, this is fine", I said, already picking up the burger and bringing it to my almost-drooling mouth. I was starving, this would be my only meal of the day, and I was going to enjoy it.

I noticed Frances out of the corner of my eye, lingering with this uneasy expression across her normally-joyful face. I paused from moving the burger closer to my mouth, and glanced up expectantly at the middle-aged woman. I wouldn't have doubted that I looked irritated beyond hell, since I hadn't ate one bite of food all day, but she didn't seem frightened. Her uneasy expression was more along the lines of worried.

"Um, can I help you?" I questioned, coming off pretty rudely with my tone, might I add. She sighed softly, before stuffing her notepad in a pocket on her apron and taking a seat in the booth directly across from me.

"Uh, I know this might seem a little personal, but I couldn't help but notice that you come here, _every_ day", she spoke softly, leaning in closer to me as if she was speaking confidential information.

"So...?" I inquired, beginning to get a little more than annoyed with her. _How is it her business where I eat anyway?_

"And you always pay with coins and one-dollar bills. And you order the cheapest thing on the menu every time. And you always get water. It's free...", she continued, and my eyes grew wide, as anger started to seep through my pores. _How dare she...? It's not her place to...UGH!_

"Your point", I seethed, staring behind her head at a biker-dude eating a huge whopper-sized burger messily, my best attempt to avoid her pity-filled eyes.

"Do you need some...help?" She wondered quietly, her fingers toying with the gold band on her ring finger. She was married.

"No. I'm good", I spoke, my eyes making their way back to the taunting burger on the plate in front of me.

"Are you sure? I mean, my husband, he owns this diner, he's the chef, and we're looking for a dishwasher. It doesn't pay much, but it's a job...", she offered, hesitantly smiling at me.

_A job. I needed one. Dishwasher...well, not what I would preferred, but hey, I'm not really in any place to be choosy._

"Uh, actually, that sounds great. When can I start?" I asked, reaching for the napkin to get rid of some of the grease coating my fingertips.

"Whenever you'd like. The job pays $7.75 an hour, and the hours are 8am-4pm weekdays, and 8am-9pm weekends, but the hours are really flexible, and we have a few other dishwashers that can cover some of your shifts if need be. My husband, Walter, will be your boss, but let's just say, I wear the pants around here, so you can come to me if you need anything", she winked, smiling widely again. I couldn't prevent a smile from reaching my face either.

I had a job. I had a car. I didn't have Seth, but I was dealing. I could do this.

"Thank you-so much", I squeaked, as she got up from the booth and smoothed out her apron, before smiling at me.

"No problem", she beamed, before walking towards the kitchen in the back.

* * *

"Can I help you sugar?" A tall, rough-looking man asked from his place at the sizzling stove as I walked into the kitchen. Fran, as she told me to call her, directed me to head back here to the kitchen when I walked into the diner this morning, ready to get to work as soon as possible. I needed cash - fast.

"Um, I think so. I'm the new dishwasher", I answered, not really sure what else there was to say. The man was very strange in appearance, almost freakish. I wondered who he was.

"Oh, great. Well, I'm Walter, Fran's husband. Your name?" He wiped his greasy hands off on his apron, and stuck out a huge hand that I took to shake. I did a double take when I noticed one of his fingers was missing.

"Dakota Harris", I said, after a second of stupidly staring.

I quickly sent a small smile his way. He was my new boss.

Walter was a very peculiar-looking man. He was tall, probably as tall as Seth, but not quite as broad. Walter had a pot belly, clearly, although his white chef's apron did a pretty good job of disguising it. He head tan, weathered skin, it was almost a leathery texture, obviously worn down from a long and full life. He looked to be in his fifties, right around Fran's age. He had a gray beard and mustache, but he was completely bald. He had one very light blue eye that was almost white in color, and the other was a milky chocolate brown. Heterochromia, I was pretty sure it was called. It was the condition when someone's eyes were different colors. I think I remembered it from a science class one time. Walter also had a wide smile, like his wifes, but Walter's teeth were in far worse condition. His bottom row was missing a significant amount of teeth, and the ones that were there were either yellow or brown. On the top row, he was missing many teeth too, but a lot of the ones actually there were silver capped. If he wasn't weird looking enough, almost his entire forehead was covered with a dark red birthmark, and on his left cheek, a long, thick scar divided it in half. I tried not to stare at any of it, but his entire face was covered in an array bizzare features, so avoiding looking at any of them was difficult.

"Well, it's very nice to meet you, Dakota. I'm glad to hear you would like the job. Our last dishwasher, Marlon, was getting a little too old, he just went into the nursing home a few days ago. It'll be great to have some more young blood around here, though", he chattered cheerily, his low, rumbling laugh bouncing off the walls of the small kitchen. "Well, I suppose we should show you around now, before we open up shop for the day. Tyler?" The man yelled, going back to flipping the patties on the griddle.

Shortly after, a young man, no more than twenty-five, walked in, setting some cardboard boxes down on the floor before looking up. He was a handsome man, nothing like Seth in comparison, but still, very handsome. He had fair skin, not pale, but not as tan as mine, sandy-blonde hair, bright ocean eyes, and a muscular build, not quite as brawny as Seth's, but still, pretty impressive. He was about six feet in height, substantially shorter than Seth, but compared to my own height, right around five feet, he was tall.

_Why do I keep comparing him to Seth? Seth and I are over. I made the mistake of leaving him over a stupid comment that he didn't really even mean, and now I was dealing with the consequence of that choice. I need to move on from Seth!_

"Hi", he said, smiling at me with a cute grin, before returning his attention to Walter, "What did you need, Walt?" He asked, his tone nonchalant, as if the two of them were best friends. Crossing my toes, I hoped this Tyler guy worked here.

"Would you mind taking a break from unloading those boxes to show Miss Harris here around the diner?" Walter wondered, flipping the burgers skillfully, while gesturing to me with his free hand.

"Sure", Tyler answered, his blue eyes finding my green with a white smile. He opened the door to the kitchen, gesturing for me to go first. I did and walked back out to the main part of the resturant. Fran was still out there, sweeping the floor. She smiled when she saw us walk by, and even sent a playful wink my way when Tyler wasn't looking.

"Well, here's the main counter, cash register, pop machine, extra condiments are under there, and usually Miss Linda mans this area", he explained, pointing to all the items he mentioned.

I nodded, but most of what he said went right over my head. I was busy having an internal battle with myself.

_He's not as cute as Seth. _

_Who cares, Seth's not here anymore! _

_Why don't you go back to talk to Seth? _

_Seth and I are over! _

_Well still, this Tyler guy is nothing compared to Seth. _

_Why am I comparing him to Seth? _

_AHHHH!_

"Are you okay?" Tyler asked, his blue eyes concerned. I must have either been making a really awkward face, or I said some of my internal thoughts out loud. Well, when in doubt...

"So, do you work here then?" I quickly blurted a question, to distract him from my failure to answer. His concerned expression immediately morphed into a wide smile.

"Yeah, I work in the back, do the unloading, and sometimes help with dishes", he exclaimed, his voice trailing off with passion. I could really tell he liked working here for some reason.

"Oh cool. I'm the new dishwasher", I informed him, smiling at the thought of getting to spend some time with him.

He grinned. "Well, looks like we might be spending a little time together Miss Harris."

"Dakota, you can call me Dakota", I said, smiling back.

He lead me around the rest of the tiny diner, giving me these in-depth descriptions about every inch of the place, most of which, flew right over my head. That little voice in the back of my mind kept screaming, _Seth! Seth! Seth!, _every single second.

But before long, it was opening time, and Tyler and I had to go to the backroom for the day. I took my post at the sink, rolled up my sleeves, and pulled on my newly aqquired diner apron. Tyler continued to unload boxes of lettuce and tomatoes from a truck outside, so I got to see him pretty often.

The morning went fast, business was steady, not too busy, but not dead either. I didn't mind doing dishes, I had done them my whole life, but after awhile it got a little old, and my hands started to prune. Tyler came and helped me for awhile then, and ate lunch with me on our break. We both had whopper-sized burgers, since employees ate lunch free.

Before I knew it, closing time arrived. Tyler headed home right away, something he informed me he didn't usually do, but he had a dinner date with his parents that night. I stayed and helped Walter and Fran clean up, it was the least I could do after they gave me the job so quickly.

I helped Walter with washing the griddle, before I headed out to the main part of the diner to sweep up and mop with Fran. It wasn't long before we got to talking.

"So, do you know if Tyler's seeing anyone?" I curiously wondered, a small smile playing at my lips.

_SETH! _

That damn little voice.

Fran smiled, "Not that I'm aware of. He had a nasty breakup with a longtime girlfriend, Haley, about three months ago, hasn't gotten over her since. But the way he was looking at you today, I don't know...", she trailed off, her eyebrows raising in suggestion.

I grinned.

* * *

Working at the diner was turning out well for me. It had been two entire months since I started working here, and even longer since I'd seen Seth. The little voice in the back of my head stopped sounding it's opinion after awhile, and now when I think about Seth, all the feelings are milder than before. The pain was still there, but it has dulled to a bearable intensity. _Progress,_ I told myself,_ I'm making progress._

Plus I've grown closer, a lot closer, to Tyler since we first met, and we even have gone on a few dates, one of which ended in some heavy-petting. I never have really done the dating-thing, other than with Seth, and that had only lasted a few days, but with Tyler, it was working well.

This morning was a dreary one, well it always rained in Washington, but today seemed especially dark and cloudy. The few people that were in the diner wore dark coats and rain jackets. I was heading out of the back kitchen for my lunch break when someone yanked my arm, pulling me into a chair beside them. I was about to give them hell, but stopped short when I realized I couldn't tell who the mysterious person was...until they lifted the hood from their shadowed face.

_Holy shit._

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**So...who do you think's the mysterious visitor, huh? Let me know! And thanks to all the reviews from last chapter, I loved 'em! :)**


	15. In Which There is a Deal

**Author's Note:**

**Here's another update, I know it's only been a few days, but I just got really into this chapter and finished early, so here you go! Enjoy! And remember to check out my blog, the link's on my profile! This chapter's very well, all over the emotional scale. I feel like this chapter really shows a more mature side of Dakota, since she's spent some time away from Seth, and she's been forced to grow up and make it on her own. I hope you all enjoy it. And pretty please with cherries and rainbow sprinkles on top, review! I love reading them!**

**Happy Reading!**

* * *

**I don't own Twilight, however, I do own Dakota Harris, the main character of this story, so...I guess I can deal...**

* * *

Ch. 15 In Which There is a Deal

_NO! _

_There was no fucking way that this was happening right now. I must be dreaming...clearly this isn't reality. Wake up, Dakota, fucking wake up! Shit on a stick, pinching is not working!_

"Miss me?" Leah teased, as I forcibly accepted that I wasn't dreaming. She was here. At the diner. Talking to me.

I didn't answer, and Leah seemed to get that I wasn't planning on it anytime soon. Her face melted into a more serious demeanor.

"Look, I'm just gonna cut to the chase, alright", she paused and sighed, "I know Seth was sort of complete dick to you and all, but he never meant to intentionally hurt you. _Trust_ me, I've read his mind enough these last two months during patrols...and he's a fucking wreck, Dakota, a fucking _mess_. He doesn't sleep anymore, mom can't get him to get out of bed, besides for patrols, and everyone in the pack is fed up of his fucked up, blackhole of a mind. We've all been telling him to come talk to you for awhile now, when we found out you were working here a couple weeks ago, but he spews this crap about how you would never want to see him again and that he doesn't deserve to be in your life anymore. Fucking bullshit", Leah muttered, catching her breath from the heated explosion of words that seemed to just flow out of her mouth like a fountain.

She looked at me expectantly for a few seconds, but I couldn't think of one thing to say. I had spent the last long two months of my life trying to get over this boy. I wasn't about to just turn around and reverse that progress. Leah seemed to understand what I was thinking.

"Do you remember how I told you that I was gonna be Sam and Emily's maid of honor?" She asked, and I wasn't exactly sure where she was going with this, but I nodded just the same. "Well, after you left, I changed my mind and told them I didn't want to be. Emily was really upset at first, she cried a lot, and Sam was extremely dissapointed. My mom was pissed at me, said, _'You have to stop being so stubborn and learn how to forgive'_. At the time, the words went right over my head. But when the wedding day rolled around, and I saw Kim, one of Emily's friends, standing in the maid of honor's spot, right by Emily's side, and I was stuck sitting next to my mom in the chairs lining the aisle...I regretted it. I regretted giving up that spot. I regretted making Emily cry, and making Sam dissapointed. I regretted upsetting my mom. But most of all, I regretted the fact that despite how long ago it happened, I _still_ hadn't found the strength in me to forgive Sam and Emily for hurting me. Instead of forgiving years ago, there I finally was having a revelation, in the middle of their wedding, when I could have been standing beside Emily up there, watching as two of my best friends became husband and wife. Do you know how _shitty_ that felt? How _stupid_ I felt?" Leah questioned, her dark eyes piercing into my green.

I shook my head.

"It felt like I had just made the biggest mistake of my entire life, and there was not one fucking thing I could do to fix it", Leah clarified, her eyes glazing over as she stared out into space for a moment.

"I'm really sorry and all, Leah, but why exactly are you telling me all this?" I wondered quietly, trying to be compassionate at the same time as being confused as to why she was telling me all this.

"I'm telling you this because I don't want you to be in the same place I was at that wedding", she explained, as if that was an obvious fact.

"What do you mean?" I asked, confusion overtaking me. _What in the hell was going on right now? I just came out here for my lunch break, and get thrown into a werewolf-therapy session?_

"I don't want you to be looking back someday and wishing you would have been able to forgive Seth. I don't want you to make the biggest mistake of your life", she spoke slowly, her eyes meeting mine with complete sincerity.

I snorted.

"It's not the biggest mistake of my life...you're just exaggerating. Really, Leah, I doubt Seth's doing _that_ bad without me. I mean, the guy's built like a NFL player, it's not like he doesn't have _other_ options", I reasoned, squirting some ketchup on my burger since it looked like I would be sitting here for awhile. Might as well try to eat my lunch while I'm here.

Leah just shook her head at me. "You don't get it, do you?", she asked with a small frown on her full lips. "I still can't believe he never fucking told you this, but now seems as good a time as any", she sighed. _What the hell was she talking about? Seth never told me about what?_

She leaned in, before whispering, "You remember Seth telling you about being a shapeshifter and all that came along with it?" I nodded. "Well, he left out a very important part of that conversation."

_Huh?_

I waited for her to continue, but she seemed to be thinking to herself for a moment. I took a big bite of the burger while she thought, wiping the grease that oozed from the burger off my chin with a napkin.

"Ah hell", she suddenly blurted, and I directed my attention back to her. "There's this thing called_ imprinting_", she said slowly, letting me fully digest every syllable.

Wait, did she just say..._imprinting_...? _What in the hell...?_

"What the _fuck_ is that?" I questioned bluntly, before taking another enormous bite of the juicy patty. Walter made them especially greasy today_...hmmm..._

Leah looked a little stumped for a couple seconds. "It's something a wolf can do. It doesn't happen to every single one of us, but it happens to a lot. It used to be considered this rare phenomenon, but it's happened to over half of the pack now, so rarity has kind of gone of out of the window", she rolled her eyes dramatically._ Well, obviously this imprinting thing is not on Leah's list of favorites..._

"So, what exactly is it?" I asked again, growing slowly more and more impatient with Leah's lack of explanation.

"Technically, it's supposed to be the way a wolf finds their soulmate, but really, it's more of a _'love at first'_ sight sorta deal. Bunch of sappy bullshit if you ask me. But all the tribe elders gush about how it's this huge blessing...oh fuck me", Leah explained, but started trailing off with a series of vulgar obscenities.

I interjected, "So,_ why_ is this imprinting thing so important?"

She rolled her eyes again. "Are you fucking kidding me? You _still_ haven't figured it out yet?" She inquired, her tone suggesting I should know exactly about whatever she was getting at. _Yeah, right. _"Seth imprinted on _you_, dumbass!" She whispered harshly, her eyes practically bulging out of her head.

_What did she just say? I'm pretty sure she just said Seth imprinted on_ me.

_On. Me. _

_Dakota. Harris. _

_No. Fucking. Way._

_But wait, what does that mean?_

"So...what does that mean then?" I asked cautiously, setting my burger down on the paper tray.

"It fucking means that he can't function without you. He can't_ live_ without you. It means that you're all he's ever gonna want, all he's ever gonna _need_", she informed me, before adding after a second of thought, "It _means_, you need to forgive him."

I felt like my heart was going into emotional overload, and my mind was being pulled a million different ways. _Should I forgive Seth? Could I forgive Seth?_ I couldn't wrap my head around the subject of imprinting, so bizzare. I didn't exactly even know how I felt about the idea of Seth imprinting on me. _Was it permanet?_ The way Leah was making it sound, it seemed like it was. I was it for Seth, for life? That didn't seem exactly fair, to either one of us.

"Well, I- can't he just go im-imprint on someone else and leave me alone?" I sputtered frustratedly after a minute, crossing my arms defensively. I didn't know how I felt anymore...other than utterly confused.

Leah looked at me with an exasperated frown. "Imprinting is _for-ev-er_. He can't just take it back and go on with life like you don't exist. He'll never forget you, and he'll never be able to move on from you."

_Whoa, whoa, whoa. How was this fair at all? More importantly, how in the world could anyone consider being forced to love someone else a blessing? It didn't seem right or just._

"That's not really fair", I mumbled, taking a petite sip from my soda. _What an exhausting day. And I only had ten minutes left of my lunch break..._

"Life's hard. Get a helmet", Leah replied dryly.

Well, Leah had sucessfully ruined my entire 2-month progress within the last five minutes. _Great._

And by ruined, I mean my heart was aching so much it felt like it might just crack into a billion little pieces. A vision of Seth's horrified face the day I left ran rampant through my mind, the same memory that had taken weeks to remove from my dreams. Seth was hurting...and now I was, too.

"Well, you can't just expect me to up and leave. I moved on. I got a job. I moved into my own apartment. I have a...boyfriend", I explained, listing off all the items I had aqquired over the last few months. I felt my heart constrict at the thought of staying away from Seth, but my mind was telling me that staying away would be better for both of us.

"A boyfriend? How'd you manage that?" Leah wondered, with a puzzled expression.

I shrugged. "He works here, too. He's cute. Nice. Friendly."

"And you don't miss Seth?" She wondered, her eyebrows raising skeptically.

"At first, a little." _A lot_. "But now, it's not so bad. My heart's starting to heal", I explained, leaving out the part about how I was now back to missing Seth because of her telling me about how bad he's doing.

"That's- really weird", she commented, almost more so to herself than to me.

"So...does that mean that it's possible for Seth to move on, too?" I wondered softly. I may not have forgiven Seth for what he said, I don't know if I ever will, but I did want him to be happy. Even if it was without me in the picture.

"I don't know. I doubt it", Leah answered, staring off into the distance. Then her brown eyes found mine, "You sure you feel nothing?"

I feel a lot of things, but I couldn't admit that. I needed to move on. "Positive."_ Negative..._

"Okay..." She looked very skeptical. She had reason to be. "But I have one more thing." I nodded, giving her the go-ahead. "If you don't love Seth anymore, I want you to prove it."_ I so don't like where this is going... _"I want you to kiss him, right in front of me, and then look him right in the eye, and tell him you don't love him", she decided, shooting me a nasty poker-face.

"Wouldn't that hurt him even more?" I wondered nervously, thinking about the painful implications that might cause him...if I was being honest though, I was more worried about the fact that I wouldn't be able to look him in the eye and say that. Because that would be a lie.

"Trust me, he can't get any worse than he is right now...", she muttered under her breath. I winced at the image of Seth's scared face in my mind, and Leah didn't seem to miss it. She shot me another skeptical eyebrow-raise.

"When?" I asked, casually trying to direct attention away from my slip-up.

"Let's meet at First Beach tomorrow, when do you get off work?" She questioned.

"Four", I answered simply.

"First Beach, five thirty?"

I sighed a long breath. "I'll be there."

"You better."

"My lunch break's over...", I mumbled, glancing up at the diner clock. I was anxious to get away from all this stress. I knew I would probably spend this afternoon washing dishes deep in thought. I certainly had a lot to think about.

* * *

_I couldn't do this. Nope, I can't. Why in the world did I ever agree to this dumb plan? Kiss Seth, tell him I don't love him while staring right into those mystical chocolate eyes, and then pretend like life will go back to normal? This was by far, the worst decision I have ever made. How did I even think I could do this?_

My hands were trembling on the steering wheel as my trash can on wheels pulled into the parking lot of First Beach. The clock on my console read 5:27, and I was a nervous wreck. I had been all day. Walter had asked me repeatedly if I was okay, he even threatened to send me home so I could go to the doctor's office.

I almost jumped a foot in the air, off my seat, when a sharp rap came at my window. Leah's perky face was there to justify the frightening noise. I huffed a breath of fresh air, ran a hand through my untamed, ginger mane, and opened the driver's side door.

I could see Seth's tall figure in the distance, sitting gracefully on the rocky shore of the beach. He wasn't looking my way, thank the lord, but I could already feel my insides crumbling, and my heartstrings pulling me towards him. _God, how did I ever think this was going to work!_

"Why are you so nervous?" Leah interrogated. My heart was beating so fast, I'm sure she noticed it with her wolfy abilities.

"I'm just feeling a little sick is all. I think I ate some bad lettuce back at the diner", I reasoned, coming up with a reasonable-sounding story. Leah rolled her eyes.

"Sure, sure."

I followed her reluctantly until we were standing about ten feet away from Seth's sitting form, his back turned towards us. Leah stopped, crossed her arms, and spoke. "Seth", she whispered, and his head slowly turned around, right on cue.

His familiar chocolate eyes were full of emotions, emotions that made my heart constrict and contract to the point that it was painful. Hurt, sadness, confusion, happiness, hope, desperation, and love all pooled into his brown pupils. I fought the urge to run over and wrap her arms as tight as they would go around him.

But his eyes weren't the only thing I noticed. His face was paler than I'd ever seen it, and dark purplish bags sat, seemingly etched unto the skin, underneath his eyes. His short black hair was messily mussed, more so than usual. His clothes were the usual, bare chest and cutoff shorts. No shoes. I also didn't fail to notice the normally upturned, signature 'Seth grin' was missing, a tight frown replacing it.

I didn't like the way this Seth looked. He looked dead.

"Hey", I greeted quietly, feeling incredibly awkward with the entire situation. _I was just supposed to walk up and kiss him now?_

"Hey", he answered back, his voice dry. He offered a small smile, which I readily returned, but it wasn't the smile I was so used to. It wasn't the smile I wanted so badly to see on his sullen face.

"Well, what are you two waiting for? Get to it", Leah commanded, frustration and impatience lacing her tone. I almost giggled, and Seth rolled his eyes.

He brushed off his shorts as he got up off the stony ground, and I suddenly felt very shy. It was one thing to kiss on impulse, but this was planned out. I knew what was going to happen before it happened, and in this case, that made me a little embarassed. Seth hesitantly padded over to me, a cautious look planted on his face the entire time.

When he reached me, he placed his large, warm hands gently on my waist, barely making contact with my body, before his brown eyes found my green. My heart was beating a million miles an hour, and I couldn't form any thoughts. I was literally in fight-or-flight mode, flailing internally for life.

His eyes followed mine, peering for any signs of objection, before his warm lips connected with mine, and I was lost to the world.

* * *

**Well, brandibuckeye got it right, the visitor was none other than Leah Clearwater! Ding-ding-ding! So...what'd you think of the chapter? Reviews, anyone? Please and thank you! :)**


	16. In Which There is Comfort

**Author's Note:**

**Hey, it's me, with an update! I have been enjoying watching the Olympics, especially the US Women's Gymnastics (Gabby Douglas is amazing), and Missy Franklin/Michael Phelps kick some butt in the swimming department. Have you all been enjoying the Olympics, too? What events? Let me know in a review...? :)**

**Anyways, here's a new chapter, and enjoy. Thanks to all who reviewed last chapter. Let's break fifty reviews!**

**Happy Reading!**

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**I don't own Twilight. Or a gold medal from the Olympics. Yes, I know, I have failed in life.**

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Ch. 16 In Which There is Comfort

I couldn't think. My mind was going a million miles an hour, and my bodywas in sensory overload. His lips were so soft against mine, his movements emanating desperation, and I couldn't just stand thereand wait for the kiss to end. I couldn't help myself, I wanted to kiss him back so badly.

So I did. Passionately.

There was no denying it. I loved him. This little 'dea'l I made with Leah was a loss on my part before I even got here today. There was no chance for me to show up here and be able to say I was over Seth. In fact, I was far from it.

There was a loud clearing of a throat, and Seth seemed reluctant to pull away from my lips, but he did. His brown eyes followed mine closely as he backed up.

"Well, what's the verdict?" Leah prodded, and I turned around towards her, taking in her slight smirk. She knew she had won.

I sighed, glancing back at Seth who's eyes were intently watching my face, like Leah, waiting for an answer.

"I don't...", I began, watching as Seth cringed, and the pain in my own heart became to much, "want to stay away from you anymore."

Leah smiled dubiously, and Seth practically knocked me over with a huge bear-hug as he peppered small kisses all over my head.

"Okay, okay, I get it, Seth. You missed me", I muttered, smiling though as I nudged him off of me. He was grinning ear-to-ear with that famous 'Seth' grin that I loved to see.

I already knew I made the right decision. For Seth, and for me.

"So...you wanna move back in today?" Leah asked, looking at me with raised eyebrows. I shrugged.

"Doesn't matter to me. I don't have anything back in Port Angeles, other than making a phone call to the resturant." I felt Seth's long, muscled arms wrap around my waist from behind, as he pulled me towards his chest. Then I felt him press a single lingering kiss to the top of my head.

He really missed me.

"Seth, just calm down. I'm not going anywhere", I stressed, looking back at him with a serious expression. He loosened his grip on me. "I was acting kind of dramatically when I left you in the first place", I admitted, avoiding his eyes because I hated admitting I was wrong. I've always hated to admit when I was wrong.

"No, you weren't being dramatic. You were right. I was inconsiderate. I never should have said that. I know your family is a difficult subject for you and I shouldn't have been such a jerk about it", he sincerely said, looking into my eyes so intensely I forgot we were standing on the middle of a beach.

"Okay, well, if you two are done with your whole love-fest, can we go back to the house now? Mom's making cherry pies, and I want a slice while they're still hot", Leah complained.

Seth looked at me, giving me the control to decide if we could leave. I smiled. "Yeah, let's head _home_."

Seth appeared to be very pleased that I used the term 'home' to describe his house. I had recently decided that a home is not a place where a family lives, it's a place where you feel you belong. And right now, more than ever, I knew I belonged with Seth. My years of raging parties, one-night-stands, cigarette smoking and alcohol drinking- well I might not give those up quite yet, were over. If I was gonna give this relationship with Seth a serious try, I was going to give it everything I had, and then some. Seth deserved the best, and nothing less.

* * *

"I'm so happy for you two. I hated seeing my little Sethy-kins so depressed and sad", Sue gushed, making 'Sethy-kins' blush.

"Sethy-kins?" I laughed, as Leah snorted. Seth huffed.

"That's what I used to call him when he was younger, but sometimes it still slips", Sue informed me, looking a little sorry for embarassing Seth as she patted him gently on his shoulder.

"Can I call you that?" I teased, trying to regain a serious face for Seth's sake.

"It's not like he can say no to you", Leah mumbled, before shoveling some more of Sue's fresh pie into her mouth.

"What?" I wondered, still giggling a little from the thought of Seth's nickname.

"Imprinting? Remember?" Leah muffled, chunks of cherry flying out of her mouth. Sue frowned and handed her a napkin. Seth looked horrified.

"You told her?!" Seth bursted, his eyes wide as saucers, his gaze flying back and forth between me and Leah's faces.

"Well someone had to, you moron! And I must have done a decent job, too, because she didn't run away screaming", Leah bellowed back, staring Seth down from across the dining room table.

"Indoor voices", Sue instructed in a tired tone. I could tell she was used to Seth and Leah's loud arguing.

Seth looked like steam might be close to coming out of his ears, and Leah looked ready to gouge Seth's eyes out with the fork in her hand.

"Um, Seth, it's fine. I think I'm pretty much okay with it. Imprinting sounds...really weird, to be honest, but I guess my whole life's been pretty fucked up, so I guess I can learn to live with it", I interrupted, for once being in the mediator position of an argument.

Leah smiled. "See?" She looked pointedly at Seth.

Seth didn't look totally satisfied with my confession, but he seemed to drop the subject as he leaned back in his chair and crossed his arms over his chest. Sue sighed.

"Well, kiddos, my shift at the hospital starts in fifteen minutes, so I suppose I should be heading out now", Seth's mother got up from the table, taking her dish with her and putting it in the dishwasher. She already had her scrubs on, so all she had to grab was her coat from the front hall closet. "See you three tomorrow morning. Bye babe", she kissed Seth's cheek, "Night, honey", she kissed the top of Leah's head, "I'm really glad you're back, Dakota", she said to me with a small smile on her lips, before she gently touched my shoulder gently. I mentally cringed. I still didn't quite understand what irked me so much about Sue, but that strange dislike was still there.

"Bye mom", Seth and Leah chorused as Sue left the house via the back door. The remaining three of us sat silently at the table until the sound of Sue's motor could no longer be heard outside. The clock read 7:50 pm, which wasn't late for me by any means, but I was a little tired.

"Jeez louise, am I full", Leah said, rubbing her stomach in contentment. Seth still looked a little upset about the imprinting thing, but I didn't want to nag him about it if it was such a touchy subject.

"Yeah, that pie was amazing", I agreed, rubbing my own stomach. I may not be Sue's biggest fan, but that pie was heavenly.

"What do you wanna do tonight?" Seth asked all of sudden, breaking out of his silence.

I shrugged. "I was hoping to change into some of my clothes, the ones I left here, and take a shower maybe", I said, watching as Leah grabbed a Coca-Cola out of the fridge, before chugging it and burping. I mean, I wasn't one to say anything, I wasn't very lady-like myself, but that was just downright gross.

"That sounds good. Do you maybe wanna watch a movie or something after?" Seth wondered. He cleaned off his dish in the sink.

"Yeah, that'd be fun."

Seth smiled and Leah rolled her eyes.

* * *

An hour later, Leah was sitting in the armchair, and Seth and I, who was now wearing my plaid pajama pants and an old t-shirt, were cuddled together on the sofa, watching the party movie _Project X_ on Netflix. Leah and I were making comments every once in awhile when we saw a partying activity that we'd partcipated in before. Seth always looked upset when we did, so I was starting to feel slightly bad. But I did like Leah, she was quickly becoming someone I could call a friend, so I continued with our little game.

They started playing a game of beer pong onscreen, so both Leah and I blurted, "I've done that!"

Seth grumbled something as he pulled me closer to his chest. He was currently playing with my hair, and I was almost positive he was untangling knots. Little did he know that was a pointless task because my hair never stayed out of knots for long.

"How long have you been going to parties?" Seth whispered after a few seconds, but I knew Leah could probably still here him because she glanced at us.

"Since I was about fourteen or so, right around then", I answered casually, swirling my index finger in circles on Seth's kneecap.

"Fourteen?" Seth looked shocked. Leah seemed a little surprised, too.

"Yeah...", I said slowly, wondering what was so shocking about it. Fourteen wasn't that young of an age.

"Did you drink back then, too?" Seth wondered, his brow furrowing.

I did a lot more things than drink at fourteen, too...but I didn't say anything about that. "Uh-huh..."

Seth looked completely baffled, and I didn't miss the tinge of anger in his eyes. Leah was watching his face carefully.

"Seth, calm down. She grew up differently than us", Leah spoke softly, and I realized Seth was almost vibrating underneath me. "Dakota's right there, you can't phase."

_Phase...? Was that what they called it when he changed into a werewolf?_

"I'm...fine", Seth breathed, and the vibrating slowed and eventually died.

I snuggled back in as Leah turned back around to the television. Seth kissed my hair.

* * *

I had called the diner back in Port, and told them I was moving, and in turn, quitting, and Walter and Frances were great about it. Fran, of course, being the nosy old woman she was, asked why I was moving so suddenly, and when I told her about Seth, she was giddy with joy. She gave me her number and instructed me to call her whenever Seth and I were in Port, because she needed to meet this boy that managed to 'sweep me off my feet'. I rolled my eyes at that one. But just the same, I assured her I would. I wasn't really sure how to end my relationship with Tyler; I knew I needed to because he was such a nice guy. So I asked Fran if she could relay the news to him, because I was too much of a wimp to, and she said she would. I felt bad about not explaining it to him personally, but the guiltiness soon wore off.

I wasn't able to get the job back at the hospital, since they had filled the position in the month I had been gone, so Seth asked around for me. He didn't come up with much, since La Push wasn't too big of a town, but he did find a few options for me. They were looking for help at the bait shop on the edge of town, and there was a free position at gas station, plus there was an opening for a volleyball coach at the high-school.

Since I never fished a day in my life, and I didn't play sports because I got fouls for swearing too much (A lesson learned when I tried to play on the softball teak in junior high), the job at the gas station sounded like the best bet. And since I didn't need to be interviewed for it, benefits of being reccomended by innocent little Sethy-kins, I got the job right away.

My shift was from ten in the morning until five at night, which was perfect for me because I wasn't a morning person, and Seth's patrolling schedule was 9-5, which meant I wasn't missing out on any of my Seth-time.

I soon fell into a comfortable routine. Wake up at 9:45, eat breakfast, go to work in my shithole car, work, have a lunch break, work, drive home from work with a shirtless Seth (yum), eat dinner with the Clearwater's, hang with Seth and Leah, go to sleep. Then repeat.

Seth and I were still sleeping in seperate rooms, him in his, me in the guest. It wasn't ideal for me, since Seth and I's bedroom relationship had sprung up again since I moved back, but Sue was still the owner of the house, and she made the rules. One of her rules happened to be, no sleeping together until marrige. Thank god she didn't know Seth and I had sex within the first hour of us meeting, she might have a heart attack.

I didn't quite know how I felt about a bunch of young La Push men seeing my naked body during an orgasm from Seth's point of view, but that was the case with most of these wolf things. I didn't know what to make of them. So I usually just ignored them.

"Kota?" Seth and I were currently cuddling on the couch in the Clearwater's living room before we went off to our seperate rooms for bed.

"Hmm?" I hummed, as I nestled my head into Seth's chest, soaking up his wolf heat. That was one wolf thing I enjoyed. Very much.

"Do you want to come to a party with me this Friday night?" Seth questioned, laying his head on top of mine.

"What kind of party?" I inquired, feeling excitment grow in me. I hadn't been to a good party in forever. I had been buying cigarette boxes at the gas station with my employee discount behind Seth's back (since he hates that I smoke), and still hadn't gotten caught by Seth or Sue on my midnight tequila runs with Leah, but I could use a good rager.

"A pack party. Actually it's more like a get-together...", Seth trailed off explaining about all the food that would be there, but my focus was on the first three words to pop out of his mouth. _A pack party._ So I would meet these guys, Seth's friends, or 'brothers' as I heard Seth sometimes call them, at the party. The same guys that have seen me sweaty and writhing under Seth countless times. I didn't think I was ready for that. Quite yet.

"So I'd meet all your friends?" I asked, waiting for Seth to justify. He nodded. "I'm not sure, I mean, haven't they seen me in your head?"

Seth frowned. "Koty, they won't say anything. Trust me. Most of them have their own imprints anyway, so they understand. Don't worry about it, if anyone does anything to embarass you, tell me, and they won't be laughing for long", Seth said seriously, meeting his brown eyes with my green.

"So...you think I'll get along with them? They won't hate me?" I wondered, knowing I wasn't the best at making friends. Especially with people who were...well, not like me. Leah and I only get along because we have so much in common.

"No, they won't hate you. Who could hate you?" I rolled my eyes. Seth was a tad bit biased with the whole imprinting shit going on. "Besides, all the guys, and their imprints, have been nagging me for awhile now about finally meeting you. Plus the elders are going to tell our tribe stories at this bonfire, so you'll get to hear more about how shapeshifters came about, and more about our powers", Seth enthused, smiling widely and proudly.

I couldn't really say no, I mean, this seemed really important to Seth.

"And I'll be there, too", Leah mentioned as she passed through the living room on her way to the kitchen. She poured herself a glass of water.

"Really? Why?" I inquired, knowing Leah wasn't imprinted on, because I'd never seen a guy around here, and Seth could hardly stay away from me.

"I'm a werewolf, too." _WHAT?! Leah, a WEREWOLF? I thought only guys were werewolves...at least, Seth only talked about his brothers..._

"What? I thought only guys were...", I began but Seth cut me off.

"You told her that I imprinted on her, but you forgot to tell her you were a werewolf?" Seth boomed, giving Leah a nasty glare.

"She never asked", Leah answered simply, and I felt Seth's chest rumble as a low growl escaped his throat. I learned that this was a tell-tale sign that Seth was close to phasing.

"Calm down, Seth, it's fine." He stopped growling but the glare was still glued on Leah's smirking face. "And I'd be happy to go with you to your get-together", I finished, happy to see Seth's face morph into his famous 'Seth' smile and his eyes meet mine.

He enveloped me in a hug, wrapping me in his warmth.

* * *

**So...what'd you think? A bit of a filler chapter, but the next chapter is the bonfire...so there's plenty to be excited for. Review and I'll update as soon as I can. And thank you to all of the reviewers last chapter, I love you guys so much. :)**


	17. In Which There is a Hangover

**Author's Note:**

**Hey guys...I just posted the last chapter of my other story, Decisions, so now I should have a little extra time to spend on Opposites Attract. (YAY!) However, I will be starting another imprint story, hopefully soon, but I need more input on who's story to write first. So review and let me know which pairing you want to see first...Jared/Kim or Paul/Rachel. Let me know! :)**

**Here's the latest update...the bonfire chapter! I won't keep you from reading any longer, since this is such a good chappy.**

**Happy Reading!**

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**I hate to report that I do not own Twilight. That will be all.**

* * *

Ch.17 In Which There is a Hangover

It was 5:34 on Friday night. The night of the bonfire. And I was nervous as hell.

If hell could be nervous.

I wasn't sure.

"Dakota, you'll be fine", Seth assured for what I'm sure was the hundreth time. Leah rolled her eyes from her lounging position on the Clearwater's sofa. Sue was in the kitchen, finishing up the potato salad that she was going to bring along to the bonfire. Sue was a tribe elder apparently, and would be attending the bonfire as well, but leaving early for her shift at the hospital.

"I'm not nervous", I muttered defiantly, crossing my arms over my chest in defense. Leah snorted.

"Dakota, we can smell it on you. Wolf senses", she reminded me, tapping her nose lightly and smirking. I glanced at Seth who was giving me a 'she's right' sort of look. I huffed.

"Okay, so I'm a little nervous. I just...don't know what they'll think of me. What if they don't like me?" I asked, more or less retorically.

"Kota, baby, they'll love you. I know it", Seth cooed, his brown eyes glazing over. I was not satisfied.

"How do you know that? I don't really know how...but I tend to offend people easily...", I admitted, thinking of how easy insults and swear-words seem to slip out of my mouth. Seth wasn't exactly thrilled with my mouth either. _Unless we were in bed..._

"Dakota, remember, these are people who have come to love Leah, they'll love you", Seth said.

"Watch it, Sethy-kins, or you won't have any legs to get to the party on", Leah warned, her voice verging on growling. I've noticed whenever Leah or Seth get angry, growling seems to slip through. Wolf-thing, I supposed.

"Yeah, yeah."

"Okay, well, are you three ready?" Sue wondered, bustling out of the kitchen with a tin-paper-covered plastic dish and pulling her coat over her shoulders. Leah got up and headed for the door. I gulped, wishing I could just sink into the chair I was currently sitting in and hide the night away. I hated it, too, this was not the girl I knew and loved. I was normally so self-confident and didn't care what anyone thought of her. But these people, these were Seth's friends, practically his family, and I didn't want to make a bad first impression.

Seth stuck out his hand, and I took it reluctantly, Seth helping me up, and we followed Sue and Leah out the door and into the cool night air.

* * *

I shivered as Seth and I walked hand-in-hand from the beach parking lot towards the orange glow near the edge of the water. Seth noticed my shivering and pulled me against the side of his body, wrapping an arm over my narrow shoulders. My small frame shuddered against the change of temperature and I felt my eyelids start to droop.

"No, no, no. Not yet", Seth chided, softly brushing the pads of his thumbs on my half-closed eyelids. "You still have to meet everyone and hear the legends", he reminded me.

I shook my head, trying to rid myself of the exhaustion (most of which was due to Seth and I's... _activities_ the previous night), and continued on through the rocky pebbles coating the beach floor.

My stomach was doing flips and my heartrate picked up as we got closer and closer to the fire. I could hear the sounds of laughter, low and high voices. I could see the faint outlines of people, but we were'nt close enough to make distinctions yet.

I stopped when we were about twenty feet away. Seth immediately noticed and turned his back to the glow and faced me.

"I don't know if I can do this, Seth", I whispered, knowing he could hear me. He sighed, and ran a hand through his cropped hair.

"Dakota, I don't have to say this again, do I?" I didn't say anything in response. "It'll be fine. They'll love you, I'm sure of it, and hey, let's say they don't, which won't happen, but still, if they don't, it won't matter. I love you, with everything I got, and that's all that matters."

I nodded, swallowing the dry lump in my throat. Seth's words didn't do much to soothe my churning stomach, but they did relax my heart.

"Okay", I gave in, and Seth smiled widely before wrapping his arm back around my shoulders and leading me to the light of the fire.

We weren't approached right away, and Seth led me over to the food table, where tons of potluck dishes were spread out. I didn't take a plate; with how my stomach was acting, I wouldn't be able to keep down food. Seth seemed to take everything that had meat in it, then turned to me, silently asking what I liked with his eyes.

"I'm not hungry", I mumbled, shrugging my shoulders and avoiding the eyes I'm sure were on me. The conversations had cut off, so I guessed that meant they had noticed my prescence.

"You need to eat. You didn't eat lunch, Kot, which I could handle, but you're not skipping two whole meals", Seth determindely decided. Seth was possesive, more so than most guys I'd met, and sometimes it annoyed the hell out of me. _Other times it was slightly sexy..._

This was not one of those times, though.

"I _said_, I'm not hungry", I restated, feeling my face go red in anger, and clenching my fists that were now down at my sides.

"Well, I said, you're eating. Whether you're hungry or not is irrelevant", he shot back, a cocky little smirk coming to his lips.

_Oh no he fucking didn't..._

"The _fuck_ it is! It's _my_ damn stomach we're talking about here, Seth Clearwater!" I yelled, holding my hands back from strangling Seth. He could be so nice and sweet...and then sometimes he was just an absolute ass. If I was tired before, I certainly wasn't now, with the adrenaline coursing through my system.

"Oh shit", I heard someone laugh under their breath.

"No wonder he's pussy-whipped", I heard another voice whisper.

"She's gonna fucking kill him", someone else muttered.

I felt my face go red, this time out of embarassment, as I remebered where I was standing. When I lost it, I sort of blanked out and forgot. I had just done exactly what I'd been worried about doing the last few days.

Seth's face showed no signs of worry, embarassment, or that he even noticed what just happened. He was humming as he picked a large brownie and plopped it down on 'our' plate.

I tried to come up with an idea of what to do next, but my mind was frozen.

"So...you're Dakota?" A slender, tan woman with shoulder-length black hair stepped forward, offering a hand towards me. She had a gorgeous face, aside from a long scar that ran down the side of it, marring her perfect complexion. I wasn't detered though, I have plenty of my own imperfections, everyone did, but hers just happened to be on the outside.

"Uh-yeah. You are?" I inquired, while shaking her soft, lotioned hand. She smiled, with only half of her face.

"Emily Uley."

Was this Leah and Seth's cousin? And her husband, Sam, was the one who hurt Leah so badly.

I felt a sudden anger towards the girl. It was certainly not justified or strong enough to act upon, just something I felt because Leah was my friend. I felt the loyalty to back her up.

"Oh. Nice to meet you." I had to be somewhat thankful to her, she did interrupt my moment of embarassment and take some of the attention off of me.

Maybe the rest of the night would go better...

* * *

"No, no, no, you got it all wrong, Brett Farve is totally worth the money, he's in his fucking forties and he can still kick ass!" I argued, feeling high as the eiffel tower with the Bud Light I had discovered a little over an hour ago.

I was on my fifth can, and the only reason Seth was allowing it was because Paul dared me to drink more than him, which was ten at the moment, and I refuse to lose that dare. Leah also stood up for me when Seth tried to pry the cans out of my hands, saying I was a big girl and I should be able to make my own decisions. I was still sitting in Seth's lap though, so he could 'monitor me' because I was still 'underaged', although he knew very well I drank all the time back in Port.

Paul, his imprint Rachel, Collin, and Brady were sitting across the fire from us, while everyone else called it a night already or was making the last rounds on the food table. The elders had alredy told the legends, which I was fascinated by, and left the younger ones to party. This was the part I was good at.

"I don't know, I mean, his body isn't twenty anymore, once he gets injured, he's out for good", Brady put in his two cents, and took a swig from his Mountain Dew can.

"Yeah, but dude, he's _Brett Farve_!" Collin shouted, waggling his arms in the air as if it was obvious fact.

"He's also losing his magic. I mean, he's a legend, don't get me wrong, but his time is up", Paul said, smiling down at Rachel who was cuddled into his lap, and her sleepy eyes were verging on the border of closed. He took another long chug of his beer. In return, I took a swig of mine, and a smirk made it's way to his face.

"Sure you can handle this bet, Dakota?" He wondered, eyeing me specutively, while running his fingers over Rachel's back. I wondered if he imprinted on Rachel. It certainly looked like it.

"Are you kidding me? If there's one thing you should know about me, Paul, it's that I don't fucking loose bets", I challenged, finishing off my fifth can and reaching for the sixth.

"Dakota, come on, you know he's just gonna keep drinking 'em so you can't catch up", Seth reasoned, trying to steal the can away from my hands.

"Seth, give it a break. I can fucking do this."

He looked reluctant, but his gaze turned to Paul and he narrowed his eyes. "Don't do this, Paul. It's not fair to her and you know it. She can't keep up."

Paul shrugged his shoulders. "Apparently _she_ thinks she can. Have a little more faith in your girl, Seth."

Seth slumped his shoulders and leaned back against one of the benches strewn around the firepit. I chugged the sixth beer, crunched the can up and threw it in my pile, before I grabbed the seventh. Seth sighed.

I was going to win this bet.

* * *

I giggled erractically as Seth carried me across the beach to the car. I was laughing because the way Seth looked right now and how he was carrying me like a child was so silly...

"God, Paul, this is why I was worried about bringing her here. You corrupted her!" Seth yelled over his shoulder as I began to play with his eyelids. Pulling them up and down, up and down. A new burst of giggles erupted from my tummy.

"Hey, I didn't drink the beers for her, she's the one that chugged 'em down", Paul bellowed back from the bonfire, and his low chuckles could be heard after. Seth huffed and readjusted me on his shoulder. I sighed, and began to play with his spiky black hair.

"You...", I lost my train of thought, but found it again, "...you have fucking awesome, fucking hair. D'you know that?" I slurred, pulling on his locks.

He glanced at me for a moment, a small smile playing on his full lips. They suddenly seemed very appealing to me.

"Can I kiss you?" I wondered, my eyes focusing on his lucious lips.

"Why are you asking?" He teased, softly pulling my face to his and kissing me chastely, once, on the lips before continuing to the parking lot.

That wasn't a kiss. That was a peck. A measly excuse for a kiss. A kiss was supposed to have tongue and teeth and grunts and groans and moans and...

"That wasn't a kiss", I complained, pouting my lips the way I used to when I was younger and wanted candy.

Seth seemed amused, but he didn't say anything.

"I _said_, that wasn't a damn kiss, fucktard." _Why was Seth being so teasy and mean to me today?_

Seth looked a little more than slightly taken aback by my word choice. His chocolate eyes were wide and his eyebrows were raised.

"Kota, honey, I know you're drunk right now, but what do we say about swearing?" He asked, gaining his composure and going all _'overprotective parent_' on me.

"Actions speak louder than words, yada yada, yeah I know! But Seth, that wasn't a fu-kiss, and you know it!"

Seth frowned, but my answer seemed to satisfy him.

"Pucker up, then."

Seth leaned in and met my lips in a kiss that was all tongue and teeth.

The right kind.

* * *

I woke up the next morning to a pounding headache, one that I could honestly say might have been my worst ever, but was overjoyed to find a few Advils calling my name, a glass of water, and a note sitting on the nightstand next to the bed.

I popped the pills in, took a sip of water, and swallowed the caplets. I took the note into my hands.

_Dakota,_

_I figured you'd have a crashing headache when you woke up, so here's some Advil to help with the pain. I'm on patrol now, but I'll be back before you know it. Get some rest (even if you think you don't need it), and see what Leah's doing. I told her to look after you today, so hold her to that! I love you, Koty._

_-Seth_

What the fuck did I do last night? Raid a bar? 'Cause that's what if freakin' felt like! Goddamnit!

"How's your head?" A voice I had certainly recognized came from the doorway, and although I doubt she was screaming it at me, it definitely felt like it. I fucking hate hangovers. Hate.

I sighed, falling back onto the bed, rubbing my forehead. "Fucking wonderful. You know how it feels when someone puts a blender inside your head?"

"That bad, huh?" Leah smirked, leaning against the doorway. I groaned. "Well, do you wanna get up, or sleep some more? I have breakfast ready if you're up for it."

I sniffed. Eggs. Bacon. My stomach lurched at the idea.

"Maybe some dry toast...", I mumbled, forcing myself out from under the covers and following a laughing Leah out into the kitchen. I was right, she had a display of bacon, eggs, and pancakes set out on the table. I headed for the bread on the counter.

"So...do you remember anything from last night?" Leah wondered, stuffing some bacon in her pie-hole.

I thought about it. The last thing I remember about last night was the feeling of the cool sand in my hands. That was it.

"Nothing", I moaned, my head aching as my eyes came into contact with sunlight peeking out from under the closed curtain. Seth must've closed them all this morning for me.

Leah smiled, picking a piece of bacon out of her teeth. "You made quite the impression on everyone..."

_Oh, yeah. That was what I was doing last night! Seth had that get-together with all his frien- _

_Oh FUCK! I got drunk at that?!_ _What did they all think of me?_

"What'd I do?" I questioned anxiously, the plain toast popping out of the toaster disturbing my sensitive ears.

Leah's grin widened evilly, and I braced myself for the worst. "Do you wanna hear everything?"

I nodded solemnly, sticking the piece of toast on a plate and sitting down in the chair next to Leah, and tried to refrain from breathing in the scent of the bacon and egg.

Leah finished chewing on a scoop of eggs and took a sip of milk.

"Well, let's see; You told Jared he looked like Michael Jackson, _after_ his surgeries", she paused and I cringed, "I think you made Kim blush to death when you informed her that Trojan condoms were the most 'durable' brand." _Oh, god. _"You made sure Quil knew he smelled like B.O.", she laughed and I groaned, "You and Paul had a drinking competition, which explains you're condition, and you discussed Brett Farve with him and Collin and Brady. Oh, and how could I forget", she paused, "You made sure everyone there knew, and I quote, 'Seth has a 'huge-ass dick'." She then proceded to burst into a fit of uncharacteristic giggling.

I laid my head down on the table and moaned.

I fucked up everything.

_Again._

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**What'd you think? :)**

**And remember, I just finished my other story, so I want you're guys' opinions on which imprint story to write next. Jared/Kim or Paul/Rachel? Let me know in a review! Please and thank-you!**


	18. In Which There is Quitting

**Author's Note:**

**Hey, I am still alive! Here's another update, I hope you enjoy it! I should be updating again soon, provided I get lots of reviews, hint hint, and keep an eye out for a new story. I will upload it soon. So without further ado, thanks for all the support, and I hope you like this chapter.**

**Happy Reading! :)**

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**I do not own Twilight. Or New Moon. Or Eclipse. Or Breaking Dawn.**

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Ch. 18 In Which There is Quitting

**Seth's POV**

I definitely loved Dakota. There was no doubt about it. But sometimes...well, sometimes I wondered what in the world the gods were thinking when they made us soul-mates. We were complete opposites, and not in the way that compliment each other.

She loved to drink; I had never had a drink in my life, nor was I planning on ever having a drink in my life. She smoked a pack or two a day; I couldn't stand it. She was a heavy-partier; the only parties I normally ever go to were for birthdays. It seemed like the only thing in common between us was that we felt an undeniable pull towards each other.

Sometimes I wonder if Dakota wishes we never would've met at that party. It doesn't seem like she likes it here, and she spends her days at work or sitting around the house. I definitely don't want her to feel trapped here in La Push; I want her to feel at home here. I need her to feel at home here. But honestly, I think the only reason Dakota sticks around, is because of the imprinting. She feels the same strong pull towards me that I feel for her. Being a werewolf, I'm bound to La Push, and being my imprint, she's bound to me.

When I took her to that pack get-together last night, I was hoping she'd be able to find a few new friends in some of the other guy's imprints. What I didn't expect was that she'd find some new friends in my brothers. Paul, in particular. It was really strange actually.

When we first got there, Dakota had a small blow-up after I refused to let her skip dinner, and although she was pretty embarassed about it, it was a good way to break the ice. After that, she tried to have a conversation with a few of the imprints I introduced her to. But soon enough, she spotted the beer in a cooler. I attempted to intercept her, but Paul, being the idiot he is, dared her to drink more than he did by the end of the night. And Leah chewed my behind for being 'too controlling'. So, to keep up with Paul's dumb butt, Dakota was chugging down Bud's left and right. Eventually, I gave up trying to stop her. Soon enough, she was arguing with Paul, Brady, and Collin about Brett Farve, and had to embarass Kim, Jared, and Quil thoroughly.

I had to admit though, it was actually nice having her curled up in my arms by the fireside, even if she was drunk beyond belief.

I was pretty pissed at Paul for doing this to her, since he knew he'd win the bet because wolves burned off alcohol so fast, but I was pretty sure he originally bet her for my benefit. He used to get Rachel drunk when they first started dating so that she wouldn't protest to sitting in his lap all night.

So, when Dakota was practically snoring on my shoulder, I decided it was time to leave and I said my goodbyes to my brothers and their girls. I carried her as gently as I could to the car, as to not jostle her, listened to her drunken ramblings and drove home.

I had seen her naked before, since we'd made love plenty of times, but I didn't want to take advantage of her when she was in such a vulnereble state, so I put her into bed in her clothes from the night. I kissed her forehead, wrote her a note, and set some Advil and a glass of water on the nightstand; supplies to treat her hangover headache in the morning.

When I woke up early Saturday morning to head out and patrol, while my mom was sleeping in from her night-shift at the hospital, I made sure Leah was available to take care of my girl. I may not have approved of Dakota's excessive drinking habits, but I would never want her to suffer. And it seemed like if Dakota had made any form of a friend here in La Push, I would say it was Leah. For some reason, they seemed to get each other.

"She has Advil, water, and a note from me on her nightstand, so she should be all covered in that department. I turned all the blinds in the house so the sunlight won't bother her. I just need you to help her out with whatever she needs, and maybe make her some breakfast. Tell her I'll be back as soon as my patrol's over. Okay?"

Leah smirked. "I got it. Good lord, you're whipped", she mused, shaking her head at me.

I just rolled my eyes and left the house via the back door. This was going to be a long patrol shift for me.

* * *

**Dakota's POV**

Spending the day with Leah was okay. All we did was basically watched films from Leah's horror movie collection. Leah munched on potato chips while I sipped water. She would hold my hair out of my face when I puked into the toilet occasionally. We made fun of how fake and typical the storylines of the movies were.

We didn't really talk much. They're was nothing we had to say. That was what was so nice about Leah and I's friendship. If we had something we had to get off our chest, we just blurted it out bluntly. If we didn't have anything to say, we just sat in silence. We didn't need to compensate for the lack of topics by making boring small-talk.

Once I was feeling a little more stable, I felt the craving for a cigarette. I hadn't told anyone I was still smoking, at risk of Seth finding out and taking it away from me, so I went and grabbed them from my room and stuck them in my pocket.

"I'm gonna take a little walk. I need a breather", I told Leah. She pulled her eyes from the television screen and smiled.

"By 'I need a breather', you mean, 'I need a smoke', right?"

Damn it. I can't get away with anything around here.

"Don't say anything to Seth", I begged, playing with a loose string on the cuff of my sleeve.

"Relax. Wolf senses. He already knows. And he knows about the Tequila nights", Leah added, sighing.

"How?" I wondered, knowing we had been getting away with our little secret for awhile now.

"Mom was asking about why all her Tequila was gone last week and Seth figured it out. He didn't tell mom though", Leah looked grateful for that.

"Is he mad?" I inquired, feeling the green itch of guilt spreading over me. I hated that I was always greedy for Seth's approval these days. It must be one of the imprint side effects...

Leah looked thoughtful. "At me, hell yes. At you, not really. He couldn't ever be mad at you", Leah huffed, rolling her eyes.

"I know he doesn't like me drinking. Or smoking. But that's my life, you know? I can't just quit cold turkey", I said, feeling like a piece of shit. Maybe Seth wasn't mad at me for my bad habits, but I knew he was dissapointed in me. It was just - he didn't understand how hard it was to just quit.

"Dakota, no one's asking you to quit. Especially cold turkey", Leah reminded me, her deep brown eyes genuine. "Seth will love you no matter what. If you smoke, so be it. If you drink, he'll deal. Don't feel like you have to change yourself for him. If _you_ want to quit those things, by all means, go ahead. But if you don't, you don't have to."

Leah may be a bitch sometimes. Leah may act like the whole world's out to get her. She may pick fights. She may be rude or sarcastic. But underneath that hard, cold exterior, Leah was one of the most thoughtful people I'd ever met.

"Thanks, Leah", I mumbled, letting a small smile grace my lips before I walked outside to smoke my cigarette.

"If you ever fucking tell anyone we had this conversation, I'll chop off your non-existent balls, Harris", Leah yelled before I shut the door, provoking a laugh from me.

If I had Leah behind me, I might just be able to quit.

* * *

When the door opened a little after five, while Leah and I were in the middle of 'The Exorcist', I jumped up. Seth strolled into the house, still zipping up his cargo shorts. I was momentarily distracted.

"Hey, Kot, feeling better?" I barely registered his voice. I was busy staring at his beautiful frame. His tan, chiseled chest, and particularly, the little trail of hair starting at his navel and heading into the 'V' shape of his hips, into his pants.

"Yeah, she is", Leah answered for me, a smirk evident in her voice. She knew I was checking him out. Fuck her.

"Are you sure? Koty, babe, what're you looking at?" Seth's warm hand brushed against my forehead, and I looked into his eyes. The brown pools showed concern and worry. My mouth couldn't seem to function though.

"She's checking you out, dipshit", Leah informed him, rolling her eyes.

"Thanks for taking care of her, Lee, but fuck off", Seth grumbled, brushing the pad of his thumb over my cheek comfortingly. Leah muttered something under her breath before heading to the kitchen.

Little did he know Leah was completely right. I _was_ checking him out. _Who could blame me?_

I sighed and took a deep breath. I was working on what I needed to tell Seth all day long, and now I couldn't seem to remember exactly what I planned to say.

"Uh, Seth...", I began, furiously trying to remember my wording. Seth frowned.

"What, honey? What's wrong?" Seth asked, his thumbs soothing movements relaxing me.

"I'm really sorry. For everything. I made a fool of myself last night, in front of your friends. I probably embarassed you, and I'm sorry that." I paused, taking another deep breath. "I know you don't like that I drink, and smoke, and I do know it's bad for my health. I've done it for awhile now, and it's proabably safe to say I'm addicted. But I do wanna try to quit, but it's gonna be hard, and I need your help. It'll probably take awhile, and I might mess up a few times, but I need you to help me, if I'm gonna do this..."

I finally forced my eyes up to asses Seth's expression.

His face was blank. I suddenly felt regretful. I knew he didn't like that I smoked and drank, but maybe asking him for this much help was too much. _Shit, I shouldn't have said anything..._

"Uh, shit. Um...I mean, you don't have to if you don't wan- ", I mumbled, but Seth's lips crashing on mine stopped me dead in my tracks. His tongue plunged into my mouth, exploring and aggresive. I moaned, but the sound was lost in his mouth. He finally pulled away to let me breathe.

"I'm so glad you're gonna quit, Kota. So glad. And I'll do everything you need me to do to help you", Seth panted, out of breath himself. A huge, bright grin was dumbly plastered on his gorgeous face, dimples and all.

I smiled, before crushing my own mouth back on to his. He gladly obliged and we made out.

All was well, for now. But I knew trying to quit was going to be a long road, filled with obstacles and pain, but with Seth and Leah supporting me, the odds were defnitely on my side.

* * *

_This is fucking hard! SO FUCKING HARD!_

It had been two weeks since the day I had given up smoking and drinking. The first few days weren't too bad, just a few urges that had been easily supressed with Seth and Leah's help. But after that, things got a hell of a lot more difficult. The urges were painful; aching. It was like a constant itch I couldn't get rid of, no matter how much you scratched. I tried to distract myself, but that only worked for so long. Seth's constant encouragment started to become irritating, rather than supporting. Leah's smart ass comments just pissed me off rather than making me feel motivated to prove her wrong.

Seth and I had been fucking almost every day, sometimes twice a day, just to give me a distraction from the nicotine need. Leah started jogging with me in the mornings, trying to give me another channel to put my anger and frustration into. They both helped, but nothing could completely destroy the nagging urges.

Work was a whole other story. Being a cashier at a gas station was horrible, if you were trying to give up smoking. I had the whole rack of cigarettes hanging directly behind me the whole time, and had to personally hand them to the customers. It was a constant temptation, and I had to coach myself during every shift.

Alcohol proved to also be a mean bitch. Every get-together or pack meeting I attended was like a fucking slap in the face. Everyone around me was drinking beer or taking shots. I almost had one, telling myself, 'just one'. But Seth, being the responsible supporter I needed, stepped in and reminded me that if I had one, I would want more.

I knew before I tried to quit that I was addicted. But now I knew just how addicted I was.

Quitting was taking every ounce of self-control I had in me, and then some.

* * *

**Sorry for the long wait, I've been enjoying the last few weeks of summer. I hope to have another chapter up soon, and make sure you review your thoughts. I'd love to hear them! And the new story should be up soon, so watch out for it! :)**


	19. In Which There is Sweet Distraction

**Author's Note:**

**I apologize for my extended absence, again. I'm not even going to attempt to make excuses, because there really are none. I hope you can all forgive me, and to try and bribe you into forgiving me, this chapter is a juicy fat lemon. So enjoy. **

**Happy Reading! :)**

* * *

**You don't have to read this, it's only a standard disclaimer.**  
**Trust me. I'm almost a doctor.**

**I do not own Twilight.**

* * *

Ch. 19 In Which There is Sweet Distraction

I was sitting on the couch, my head placed on Seth's warm lap. He was running his strong hands through my hair, trying to soothe the aching pains of my intense headache with feather-light touches.

Nicotene was being demanded by my body, and now that I couldn't give it any, it was protesting.

We were supposed to be having a movie night, but Seth was the only one watching it, because I couldn't focus. The pain was too potent.

"Baby, you alright?" Seth's raspy voice was in my ear, his hot breath dangerously close to my earlobe, sending signals to my pussy and making my nipples pebble under my tank top. I could feel them poke the thin fabric.

Seth inhaled deeply. I could feel him smile into my hair.

"Again?" He asked with a teasing tone. I knew he was just joking though, Seth's wolfiness meant he also had some pretty damn good stamina. With him around, we could go all night.

And Seth and I's sex life had become very active since I quit. I needed to distract myself from the harsh nicotene headaches and use up all my extra time, so sex became a good outlet for me. And Seth was happy to oblige. As long as Sue wasn't home.

And it was just oh-so convenient that Sue worked the night shift.

"Please?" I breathed, squirming around to face him, straddling his thighs and laying the seduction thickly.

He was smirking playfully, his delicious dimples deep as ever.

At my begging, his brown eyes darkened, to the point the pupils blended in with his pitch black iris. His primal, animalistic side was taking over, and I loved it.

In an instant, I was being hoisted up around Seth's waist and ran to the bedroom. Seth threw me gently onto his bed, standing back to watch me. I felt my nipples were harden to points, and looking down, I could see them clearly through the white fabric. My underwear felt uncomfortably hot and wet, and I wanted to rip them off already. My thighs were practically quivering in need.

"Seth, hurry, please", I purred, my voice throaty and needy. I learned fast that begging Seth was his best turn-on. He loved it. I learned from Emily and Kim that all the pack guys' weaknesses were begging. Something to do with wolves; fuck if I knew.

Seth was hovering above me before I knew it. His black eyes running down my body greedily, taking in every 'barely there' curve I owned. Afterall, I did have the body of a 12-year-old boy.

"You smell amazing, Kot", he breathed, his nostrils flaring.

I was writhing under him, bucking my hips like a bitch in heat. God, I wanted to orgasm so badly. My hips were flailing in every direction, trying to find some cock.

"Seth, now. I need to cum, _now_", I whimpered.

Seth didn't waste any more time. I felt him rip the thin cotton sleep shorts I had on and then shred the thin panties afterwards. I gasped at the feeling of cold air on the sensitive skin.

Before I could speak, his thick digit was at my soaking wet entrance, swiping and playing at the wetness around it, but never entering like I so desperately wanted it to.

"Ungh", I grunted, my hips pushing up off the mattress and towards his hot finger, trying to create the rough friction I needed. "Seth..."

He smirked and his finger stopped moving.

"i didn't hear you. What was that?" He prompted, that damn boyish smirk planted on his face.

I moaned in protest at the loss of contact. Even if the probing wasn't exactly what I wanted, I missed the friction.

"Help me, Seth. Please."

"That's my girl", he hummed proudly.

His finger slid in to the knuckle, since I was already so wet, and I immediately moaned. He grinned.

Seth waited for me to adjust, as I groaned and grunted in pleasure. I could feel my clit throbbing, begging for attention.

Without a warning, he slid another finger into the knuckle, eliciting more noises on my part.

And just when I thought the amazing feelings running through my body couldn't get any better, his thumb reached up to my pulsing clit and began to pluck at it. Teasing it temptingly.

My hips jerked up on their own accord and rocked into his hand. I was quickly rising to a precipice that promised to be one of the best I'd ever had.

"Easy, Kota, you'll cum, don't worry. I just wanna try something new."

Oh, fuck me. Seth could do whatever the hell he wanted to me as long as he got me off. Soon.

"Yeah...ungh, just hurry Seth. I'm so close...ooohhhh", I whined, as he pulled his digits from me.

I was about to ask what the fuck happened when I felt something warm, wet, and hard at my entrance. I opened my eyes to see Seth's long, pink tongue plunging in and out of my pussy lightly, never going all the way in.

He was lapping up my juices, slurping noises filling the room.

_"Dakota...hmm...you taste so sweet. So good..._"

I could merely groan and moan in return.

I was practically riding his face, my fingers intertwined tightly into Seth's hair.

As I fell from the peak of my orgasm, I could hear Seth's whispering promise.

"I'm going to make you cum again."

* * *

**Seth's POV**

Dakota and I have been making love a lot more often lately.

Not that I was complaining.

But this time, this time, I wanted to try something new.

I'd seen a lot of sex through the pack mind, so I had picked up a few things. Dakota seemed perfectly content with any type of sex; as long as she orgasmed, so this time I wanted to change it up.

Paul and Rachel seemed to be the most adventerous couple when it came to sexual escapades, and many of those were marked down in my brain for future use with Kota. Paul had called it 'eating a girl out' when I asked him about it, but Jared informed me that the technical term is oral sex.

So when Dakota seemed to get antsy in the middle of our movie night, I thought it was perfect timing. My mom was working, and Leah was on patrol.

We had the house to ourselves.

* * *

Those lips of hers. So perfectly formed.

It was like they were looking at me, inviting me to come down. They teased me with the way they opened and closed when I played with them. They drived me insane when I saw them oozing with her delicious juices. I lapped up the sweet-tasting fluids hungrily, like a man deprived of water in the desert.

It tasted so much like the rest of her, but even more concentrated. I couldn't get enough.

My body shut down all unnecessary thoughts and movements and the focus was fully on my mouth and her inviting, pink lips.

Nothing else mattered at that moment.

Only my lips and tongue on her, over her and inside her until she gave me the reward all over my face.

_Is there anything better than making your woman cum with your mouth?_

I didn't think so.

Maybe I should ask Paul for some more advice...

* * *

**Dakota's POV**

_Seth swung me around and spread my legs, admiring my dripping form in front of him. I lifted my hips and looked back, pleading for him to enter me once more. _

_I could feel how my lips were swollen and open, waiting to be penetrated again. And so he did. Leaning above me Seth slammed back inside me. My groans continued into the pillow as I grabbed hold of the sheets and pushed back into him, wanting him as deep inside me as she could manage._

_My mind was racing. A face flashed into my imagination. _

_Intense eyes staring at me. His eyes. It felt as if they were burning into my freckled skin. No movement, no sound. Just his eyes. Asking questions I couldn't answer. The same questions I knew were always there between us. Questions she wished I could get rid of with the answers Seth wanted to hear. _

_I couldn't though. And so they kept burning. _

_A constant fire with nothing to extinguish it._

"Dakota! Koty, babe, wake up!" Seth's deep voice startled me, waking me from what must have been my sleep.

It was a dream. That was just a dream.

But that anxiousness...it was still there.

"Are you okay, Kot? You were tossing and turning, and then you started sweating, so I thought I probably should wake you up" Seth explained, a worried edge to his tone of voice.

"I'm fine", I muttered, rubbing my forehead.

I needed to talk to Seth. Those questions that hung in the air were now tormenting me in my dreams.

No more secrets. No more lies.

No more unsaid words.

* * *

**Hmm...? Some rocking of the boat coming up maybe? I guess you'll just have to review to find out :)**

**Oh, and remember my new Paul/Rachel story is officially up. It's titled Boiling Point. Read it. Yeah.**


	20. In Which There is Freedom

**Author's Note:**

**I know it's been such a long time. (The longest ever) I wish I could tell you that I just got really lazy, but the truth of the matter is that a close highschool friend of mine passed away. She was killed in a jet-ski accident. I spent the last few weeks with her family and dealing with greiving myself. She was young, too young, and will certainly be missed.**

**I feel like this is certainly a wrap-up chapter. I might consider doing another one, just to tie anymore loose ends, but this is very likely going to be the last. I hope you enjoy it, I know I did. Here's some answers now to all those questions that may have sparked your mind throughout the story.**

**Happy Reading! :)**

* * *

**I can only claim where Stephanie Meyer's story ended...and mine began.**

* * *

Ch.20 In Which There is Freedom

I couldn't ignore it anymore. I needed to get it off my chest and out in the open. Seth deserved to know. Everything.

I gazed up at Seth's worried expression through my sleepy eyes. He looked so innocent, so trusting, so vulnreble for someone who could phase into a car-sized wolf and kill vampires.

"Dakota? Are you okay? Please answer me", he pleaded, his tone anxious and troubled.

Was I okay? I wasn't sure. My whole life was a hell-hole, full of lies, horrible memories, and bad decisions. Did I deserve that? What made me deserve that? What had I done in a previous life to be granted such a shitty one. Maybe I stole prize jewels in Egypt. Or I shot a president. Or maybe fate just decided to fuck me over.

Wouldn't be the first time.

"Seth. Talk. I need to talk to you", I barely registered my own words as they slid out of my mouth with a bitter taste.

"Yeah. Sure. Talk. Anything", Seth repeated, his hands running soft patterns across my cheekbones. I sighed, sitting up and leaning my back against the head-board.

_How did I even begin? How do you tell someone something like this?_

_Just spit it out, Dakota, or you never will._

"I lied." _Good start. Now keep talking..._

Seth's thick brows furrowed, his gaze questioning. "About what?"

_Everything_, I wanted to blurt, but I stopped myself.

"A lot of things", I answered, feeling his frown lines deepen.

"Just tell me. I'll still love you", he assured, then added, "No matter what."

_Don't make decisions like that now, Seth, you haven't heard what I have to say yet..._

I took a deep breath.

Why I hate Sue.

Why I don't trust people.

Why I can't hardly look at myself in the mirror anymore and not see a monster staring back at me.

"I lied", I blurted, my throat scratchy. Seth raised his eyebrows, prompting me to continue. "My dad, well, he's not really my dad. Calvin's my uncle."

I watched as Seth's expression changed. He looked confused. Maybe wondering if he should be angry or not.

"But why would you lie about that?" He wondered after a second, using my chin to redirect my face so that he could look into my eyes. I tried to look anywhere but at him.

"Well, Calvin took me in after...", I took a long breath, "...after my parents were convicted."

Convicted. They were criminals. Murderers. Killers. They were monsters.

Seth must not have understood, because his brows furrowed in that adorable way as he stared back at me. I hunched my shoulders and sighed, preparing myself to finish. Seth had to know the truth; it wasn't fair to him if I didn't explain where I came from. Which was a family of monsters. And not the good kind, like Seth was.

"My parents got married in highschool, like I'd said before. But, they weren't the popular kids like I said. They were the trouble-makers, the drug addicts and alcoholics. They were bad news. And even when my mom got pregnant with me, nothing changed. My grandparents and Calvin did everything they could to help my parents out, but they could only do so much." Seth frowned. "So when I was just four, my parents just randomly upped and left me alone in my crib in the apartment we lived in. They left Seattle, and no one in my family ever saw them again." Seth growled lowly in his chest. "Luckily, later that day, my grandma happened to stop by because she made some lasanga for my parents, since they never remembered that I had to eat actual food. She heard me wailing from my crib through the door, and when no one answered, she barged in and found me. She looked for a note, but there wasn't one. They had just left."

Seth squeezed my hand a little tighter. "I'm so sorry", he whispered, kissing my forehead.

"After that, I lived with my grandparents for a couple years, but they both had Alzheimers, and pretty soon it wasn't really safe for me to live with them. Calvin, my dad's brother, offered to take me, since he lived alone and knew I'd be sent to a foster home otherwise."

It was quiet for awhile, just the sound of our combined breathing. In-out. In-out. In-out.

"Your parents missed out on a great daughter", Seth said, his voice concluding. I looked up at him.

"But I'm not sorry I missed out on some shitty parents", I bluntly responded. Seth nodded.

"I still don't get why you lied, though..." He admitted.

"A few months after I moved in with Calvin, my parents were in the paper. They had been arrested as suspects of a murder case down in California. We didn't tell my grandparents, it would've been too much with their medical problems. Calvin didn't know what else to do, so we just kept an eye out in the papers. When they went to court, my mom was convicted of first degree murder, and my dad was an accomplice. My mom received life, and my dad got fifty to life. Since then, we haven't heard anything about or from them."

Seth's eyes were sullen as he looked back at me. The tears started to fall.

"They were monsters, Seth. They killed a thirteen-year-old girl. Murdered her. I have nightmares about it all the time. The pain she must have felt under my parent's hands. _I_ was thirteen when they killed her. That should have been me. Not her", I sobbed, my hands now clinging to Seth's soaked t-shirt.

He gently patted my back and whispered in my ear. "Don't ever say that. It's not your fault that your parents killed that girl. Your parents were monsters, not you."

But that's where he was wrong.

I was a monster.

"Seth. I need to show you something", I sniffled, getting off the bed and going to my room. Seth followed a few paces behind. I dug through my drawers until I found what I wanted. The picture.

I handed it to Seth, wordlessly, and began a new fit of sobbing as I clutched my middle.

Seth took one glance at the photo and looked back up at me. He kept repeating the motion as I sobbed harder.

"Is this...this is your mom?" Seth guessed, noticing the exact replica of the smiling girl in the picture standing in front of him. _Me._

I nodded and Seth walked over and wrapped his warm arms around me firmly.

"I am a monster, Seth. I look exactly like her. Exactly. Same eyes. Same hair. Same face. Same fucking freckles..." I dry-heaved, catching my breath, and Seth kissed the top of my head.

"Don't do this to yourself, Kota. You are never going to be her. You have complete control over your life, and what you choose to do with it. Your mom made the decision to kill that girl. You can make your own decisions", he soothed.

But he didn't understand. He didn't get it. His parents weren't killers.

"You don't understand, Seth. They're was something wrong with them. My parents. They weren't right in the head. Mentally unstable. That's hereditary, you know. I'm gonna go crazy. It's in my blood. Fuck, it's in my bones."

Seth's eyes were wide and his mouth was slightly opened, as if he was searching for words, but couldn't find any.

"Why did you lie about it?"

_Bing-bing-bing. The question of the hour. Didn't everyone just want to know? Anticipation coursing through their systems?_

"You know damn-well why I lied", I muttered, wiping some smeared mascara from my eyes.

Seth frowned.

"No, I don't actually. Care to enlighten me? Because the Dakota I know is a spunky, friendly, fiery girl that I plan on spending the rest of my life loving."

Seth didn't get it. He couldn't understand, ever. His parents weren't murderers. They weren't monsters.

"Just stop. You can't honestly sit here and tell me that you feel the exact same way about me that you did twenty minutes ago", I spat, pushing myself away from him, and creating a space between us.

"I do though. I do. Because I know that I can look into your eyes and see this amazing girl, a girl who could never, would never kill anyone."

"But what about-"

"But-nothing. I meant it, Dakota. You aren't her", he pointed at the girl in the picture. "She made bad choices, she is a monster. A monster for leaving you behind. And a monster for killing that girl. But as big of a monster as she is, or as you want to make her as, she'll never be you. And you'll never be her. You may share blood, but that doesn't make you the same. Every human has willpower and the control to make a choice."

He came closer, and I relented, letting him hug me. He rubbed his hand in circles across my back.

"You're never going to be her. Just like she will never be you."

_And that was the moment I felt the gears of my life shifting. That was the moment in which the light at the end of my tunnel started to brighten. I had sort of a, a revelation, so-to-speak._

_Those monsters, the ones that had tormented me in my dreams, hid in the caverns of my mind, and brought a heavy weight upon my shoulders were now dissolved. I was free._

_And Seth freed me._

* * *

**Thoughts? Comments? :)**

**Next story will probably be Jared/Kim. We'll see. I have started on an Embry/OC, so I might post that...**


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